George Parr

Agree re the poor attendance. Sub-500, despite the mitigating factors, is really poor. Does feel like our attendances have been on the wane over the last 7-8 years. Covid probably didn’t help, when the habit of not going became baked in. I’ll assume there are lots of reasons for the drop off but the Rock being such a dreary place now really doesn’t help.

Station & Stair Park are two particularly unhappy hunting grounds for your average travelled Sons fan. I don't think I've seen us win in either despite various jaunts up (or down) to both. Could do without them both falling so soon after this latest blow.

As feared that was sadly nowhere near good enough. We simply can't hack the heat when the going gets tough.

And it's worth remembering we beat Annan 3 times last season and easily brushed aside Clyde in the Scottish.

Ugh.

Fairly or unfairly, throughout his tenure it's always seemed like these are the matches where Farrell and his squads have struggled to produce results - the crunch, pressure fixtures. A statement win would go some to allaying those bottle-merchant fears.

I'm not sure we should be worrying ourselves too much to define what a "proper" Dumbarton fan is and what might excite them. Pay money, support the team, will do for me. As it happens there will likely be many Dumbarton supporters specifically interested in the cup match as it offers a chance (however small) to witness what would be a once in a generation victory.

The cup match will be at the Rock and on the TV. The end.

Agreed. Of all the teams in the league whom we'd fancy an away midweeker against, Peterheed is arguably bottom of the list. Not ideal.

Setting aside the cup distraction for a moment - that's a massive couple of league games coming up. Assume the squad are on a high and right up for it. Despite the time of year, hopefully we see a decent turnout of Sons fans at both.

I'd be content enough with drawing either a very large or small club. The thing to avoid is some pishy middling club away from home, whom we'll neither beat nor draw much coin from. Livingston, basically.

Top 5 for me were Bossk (2nd set), Amenra, Anaal Nathrakh, Ashenspire and Enslaved's first set. My first time back at Damnation since 2015 and I thought it was a terrific weekend. I'll be heading down next year for sure.

Wolves in the Throne Room performing Two Hunters.

My only issue with the Meet the Manager is how late in the day it's been organised. A week's notice isn't great! Beyond that, fair play to Stevie for wanting to engage with the fans. Hopefully the conversation is constructive.

I thought it was a bit drab tbh. Not a touch on the last couple of records. Still plan to catch them in Glasgow next year.

Irrespective of where his head's at, I'm convinced we're going to be kicking ourselves in a couple of years after we mismanage Finlay Gray out the club and he goes on to have a decent career at full time level.

Having sat through that I fear I’m still no closer to determining whether we’re quite good or Clyde are simply shit. Take a 4-goal away win any day though.

And, spicing it up, re-sign Robert Jones.

Smashing lineup. The Night of Salvation (surely Day of Salvation works better?) in particular is a thing of beauty NoS: Celestial Sanctuary -> Bossk -> Tuskar -> Enslaved -> Leprous -> Akercocke -> Katatonia Damnation: Coffin Mulch -> Nordic Giants -> Kurokuma -> Khemmis -> Ashenspire -> Unearth -> Amenra -> Deadguy -> Katatonia -> Anaal Nathrakh Still can't get into Leccy Wizard sadly. The fascination many have for that band eludes me.

Stranraer's last few results have been just as trash as ours. I expect Dumbarton to win the football match. We should be quite worried if we don't.

Please stop. Managers come and go but the stain of cup exit humiliation (Huntly, Bonnyrigg) tends to linger for generations.

From the League Cup, Airdrie (A) and Inversneck at the Rock were decent performances and what we hoped would set the tone for the season.

Financially stricken football clubs have been known to jettison under-performing management. This is indisputable.

Ironically one of Farrell's biggest issues is that the summer recruitment was (mostly) positive, to the extent that he doesn't have much room to manoeuvre in terms of league position. This team should be fighting for the title and routinely winning matches. Of course, I suspect we'd all be more accepting of foul-ups if it weren't for the experiences of the last couple of seasons and the general sense that when a Stevie Farrell team is pushed, and it comes to the crunch, everything falls apart. Really interesting game next - Peterhead at home. We need to be more expansive! Get some strikers off the bench and into the fray! Widen the fucking pitch!

Feels like as good a time as any to recall and snort at Alistair "Ally" McCoist's antics in the wake of Princess Diana's death. Once a serf always a serf it would seem.