Benito Robles

Lol. This fella's postings remind me of a few folks who used make such claims about mysterious buyers for the Bankies back when Dr Hall and his crew were cutting off the life support system. All a load of bunkum.

Popped down to the Rock yesterday to see what all the fuss is about relating to DFCs woes. I have to say that just how the Sons didn't win against Forfar is beyond me, given the amount of pressure and effort that went into attacking. A striker who is clinical is what's required. Loved the pre match entertainment too.

We have/had the same problems at Clydebank. Some fans immediately for whatever reason take a dislike to a player and no matter what they do, it will never be good enough, but yet managers continue to pick them for their starting eleven. I take the view that maybe the coaches know better as they work with them in training and can see things from a professional point of view. You mention Tommy Coyle. My friend, sadly no longer with us, hated the fact that Coyle played for the Bankies and simply couldn't see his value to any team that featured his selection. I always thought that for the time he was at Kilbowie he was decent. All about opinions!

An acquaintance of mine who works for a national tabloid is suggesting that a Murray/Nish combination is a stick on appointment.

Right. Seems a bit daft though to have a go at your own fans.

The lady with the aitkens army scarf. Why is she pilloried for being a fan of your manager?

Serious question for Sons fans. Why is there ridicule of your own supporters when they are clearly part of your footballing family and look to me to be loyal fans? Is there a tiered approach to being a football supporter these days.?

One comparatively disappointing season in 6 or 7 has you forgetting about the good times that you are realistically a part of? I think maybe you ought to stop following Dumbarton or football in general.

Do you honestly think that ranting here is going to solicit a reaction from your team?

Goodness me, you lot love a bit of self abuse do you not? Dumbarton however you slice it have done very well indeed on the park in recent seasons. One comparatively bad campaign and you all stop support and start whingeing? Sons are not relegated yet. You have play offs to compete in, so surely efforts should be made to talk things up and get behind your club. or am I missing something. Bankies fans are harsh, but at the moment you fellas are going a little overboard in my view.

The lennox and the reporter have good coverage of Dumbarton today. Noticed in one of the lennox pieces that brabco's Ian Wilson is quoted as a director of the club. I thought he had resigned? is he back? is this good?

Why not complain at the time of purchase to the retailer, rather than on here? I'm sure DFC franchise their catering out, so your observations on price, quality would be better targetted at the source. If you're paying £10.50 for what you say you got, then I dunno who's at fault!

The deals must be beneficial, otherwise why do it? Sponsorship in the Clydebank/Dumbarton area must be murder to find so the fact you guys can unearth deals is a real credit to the work that's obviously been put in. Supporters will continually moan about such things and the reality is that the begging bowl approach won't work. Your wee ground is ideal and perfect for the Sons. Had a good afternoon there on Saturday despite the score and was made to feel very welcome.

Times have changed and Scottish football is no longer the attraction to potential and even existing punters as it once was. All the bits and pieces of inconvenience when added up make a day out pretty rubbish and expensive. I believe that fans are seen as a pain in the backside by many folk who 'run' and own football clubs and that attitude came home to roost many years ago. For the Sons, it may be a big catchment area for potential supporters when Helensburgh, Balloch and perhaps even Argyll is factored in, but the competition for those folks leisure time is fierce. Success on the pitch, for which DFC are to be rightly praised for, is simply not enough anymore, sadly.

Reading the stuff here and in the Reporter. it seems to me that your club owners are operating in an alternate universe and time zone. Sons fans simply have stop the separation of the club from the ground.

Surely to goodness the redline here for Sons fans is stadium ownership? Peppercorn deals are all very well, but that situation won't be the same as actually owning the asset. Flowery language won't change the fact that the deeds to the house have to be owned by the club. As for the borrowing money argument, simple, just don't borrow. Who would get the all the revenues generated by the new stadium? The club or the stadium owners? Besides all of this, are Dumbarton supporters willing to trust these Brabco guys?

Pricing is always an issue. It can't be avoided as a talking point. For most clubs, PATG income is a major source of revenue and will be factored into budget projections. It's £18 at the Sons for an adult to attend. For me that's a lot of money. However to drop the price to say £11 that would mean the club would need 2 people to attend instead of 1 to make up the difference. Any club would be foolish to reduce pricing in the hope of attracting more bodies. Statiscally and evidentially it does not work. Projecting this to a new stadium, which will surely have deeper running costs, the DFC owners are taking a gamble. That said looking at it from the outside this new stadium project is clearly an exercise in making money for them with the football club as a convenient vehicle.

Dumbarton FC really does not need a new stadium in which to operate. The club's owners on the other hand may need the propsed move to make some money for themselves. Two entirely different scenarios. I have an affection for the Sons. Their fans and trust members were most supportive at at time when my own club was going through turmoil and I'd hate for Dumbarton supporters to be blinded by fancy drawings and their hearing affected by proclamations of salvation with a new home. There is no doubt that the Sons are punching above their weight by operating in the Championship. It can't be easy to balance the books when income levels have to be low given that attendances are hardly breaking through the current capacity barrier. That said, there must be decent revenue coming from the fact that there are smashing facilities already at the Rock in terms of function suites. When i worked with WDC, there were regular seminars/meetings at the stadium and I'm sure there will be others who use the facilities. Added to the regular bookings for parties/weddings etc, fiscally things can't be too bad. My advice is to be vigilant, be questioning and don't let rhetoric fool you.

Is the Sons game against Hibs next month confirmed as an all ticket affair?

Kasabundi is nowhere good enough to play above Junior level. He simply does not have the pace required for senior football.

Dumbarton fans going into meltdown here over something that happens in football all the time. You guys need to calm down! Even small snippets of what your new strip looks like is being condemned on the evidence of a collar and a label! Stevie Aitken is an in demand manager given his CV. Raith would be daft to not consider him. The radio silence is not unusual either. Football is the only industry in the world where private affairs are expected to be made public. Dumbarton's problem will be if he does not get the Rovers job as he'll be a little bit compromised and time will tell if his heart is in it. Sacked by Christmas is my bet. As you were then, back to meltdown mode.

It's a good shout. Why wouldn't Raith take a chance on Aitken? He has an impressive CV and he's flying high in terms of current form. They'd be daft not to at least consider him.

Popped along to the Rock yesterday to see how our senior neighbours would do against Dundee. Despite the conditions, the game was a proper cup tie and as expected Dundee had the bulk of the play but rarely threatened thanks to some dogged defending. Dumbarton really should have pushed on in the last 20 minutes in my opinion. A wee bit more adventurism would have been good to watch as in my view Dundee's defence looked vulnerable. Saunders (No4?) had a great game and the old warhorse Wright put in a great centre-half display. Dundee's No 18 played well too.

Here's the SPFL rule in question - " ....... at any time have more than one Player Scottish FA Registered with it on the basis of Standard Temporary Transfers and Emergency Temporary Transfers combined from any one Club for the time being in the same Division as itself; ......"

Fair enough. I disagree though, but respect your view. Where the Sons are failing in terms of marketing (how I hate that phrase), is that they're not shouting enough about what a success story they actually are. You guys have one of the most respected supporters trust in the country and the rise of the club is clearly linked to fans being involved. The club and its fans have to create a place where it all feels like home and by all accounts that's not happening. Moaning is easy. Christ, we did it for long enough at Clydebank before supporters got together and reformed the club and have made a decent fist of it. A club is not just about bricks and mortar, but you know that.