cameron2000

The criticism Hogarth received was was OTT. The conditions were horrendous for goal-kicks in the first half and how can you play short when Clyde are obviously going to high press? Even the low drilled kicks just sit up. Thought that was the best I’d seen us deal with wind under Farrell tbh. Sat deep and didn’t overcommit first half then had a real go for it in the second, though nothing was easy in those conditions combined with the pitch. I thought that there were many solid performances throughout the team, notably Newbury continues to impress. I’m totally convinced he’ll go straight into Hamilton’s starting lineup next season and imo defensive midfield is best position.

It’s one miss. Calm down

Well…. What a catastrophe again! Ryan Blair’s body position was absolutely shambolic for the own goal. Lennon and and Lynas both look miles off it and David Wilson threw in one of his all too regular stinkers. Unfortunately he always a couple of decent performances and then follows it up with one that makes you question how he’s a footballer.

Got it back just as we concede.

Mines stopped working now after being on and off for the first 20 mins

An absolute horror show yesterday by the sounds of it. The recent run of form is worse than I thought would be possible for this group of players to perform. However, we don’t actually look that strong personnel-wise now after recent squad movements and injuries. The left back situation is unfortunate and I’m far from sold by Lennon. In Goals, thankfully Hogarth as better than Broun but undoubtedly a massive downgrade on Long. In Central Midfield it’s absolutely baffling that Findlay Gray is stuck on the bench. A midfield pairing of Malcom/Blair and Wilson is one of the weakest in the league I would suspect. Malcom is a huge liability in possession, whilst Blair and Wilson are fairly weak when competing for second balls. I think the pressure to move Pignateillo to Midfield is huge now. It’s a shame to see players like Ruth and Pignateillo stuck in this team as they are a pleasure to watch at this level. With the players signing contract extensions it’s hard to believe Farrell will be going anywhere anytime soon but for a third season running we’re reaching a time period where he ultimately doesn’t deserve to remain in charge. No comment from me on the off-field issues but certainly makes constantly grim reading. The state of our pitch is once again absolutely atrocious and with upcoming fixtures (and presumably less help for the ground staff than last season when Rangers were assisting) it could be pretty much unplayable by the Peterhead game. I’ve never wanted us to go down the Astro route and took some pride in us having a proper grass pitch but this season, and last, has swung my view completely. If financially viable it makes so much sense for a ground affected by the tide, in one of the wettest locations in the country and with limited resources/personnel to maintain a decent standard of grass pitch.

I personally don’t see any need to change the 4-4-1-1 formation. The dynamic of one striker going in behind and the other coming short is actually one of our strengths currently to be honest. Elsewhere though there are some issues: - In central midfield we do appear rather lightweight without Malcom but equally he’s a bomb scare in possession. It might a case of moving Pignateillo there and playing him as a holding midfielder, although then we would miss out on his natural creativity. Left back now appears rather large (and unfortunate) issue. We have gone from having two great attacking full backs to having an unproven rookie in the space of 3 months. This really is bad luck. Lennon seems to be a big step back towards McNiff in that he doesn’t offer much going forwards, however he doesn’t seem great defensively either (mainly due to lack of pace in 1 v 1s). I think he’ll be a decent centre back in the future but for now we’ll have to accept the left hand side is significantly weaker. Out wide, we really need at least 1 of Orsi or Healy starting. They both seem to have the pace to worry the opposition. We were the better team on Saturday but offered no threat out wide until they came on. Kelly was totally anonymous for large spells and you could see his natural inclination to drift inside left us with little to no width. We could try something like this when everyone is fit: - Hogarth Newbury, Crighton, Durnan, Lennon Orsi, Pignateillo, Gray, Wallace Wallace Ruth For now Lynas would be at right back, but even then I’m not sure I like the idea of breaking up the Pignateillo, Orsi combo down that side. If Ruth gets injured we are most likely snookered as there isn’t another out-and-out striker in the squad.

Should’ve given Rangers no ticket allocation and we would’ve ended up with 1,800+ season ticket holders.

Hi guys, firstly merry Christmas to everyone on here. Secondly, I think us being worse off than last season is largely due to how seriously impressive Stenhousmuir have been. Yes we have less points than this stage last year but do you really think we will collapse in the second half of the season again? With our current squad I think inconsistency is more likely than being consistently bad. In the last 15 games of last season we got 18 points with a goal difference of -5. In the first 16 games of this season we have 30 points with a goal difference of +12. Scoring more than double the games and conceding 2 less. So, yes in my eyes this progress. Certainly, it’s less points than the first half of last season but the football has been way more exciting to watch and also the results seem more likely to continue than significantly dip. Maybe the lack of optimism is due to how unappetising the thought of a playoff seems right now, given the disaster of the last two. I appreciate we maybe have a 10% chance of winning the league. But can we really be that critical if this is due to one team being exceptionally consistent?

There is genuinely no chance we’ve regressed from last season. It would have looked an awful lot worse if we hadn’t had that massive winning streak right at the start of the season, where many of the win were fortunate. This season is far from perfect I accept but football is about entertainment right (and obviously winning)? Don’t you think we’ve Been exciting to watch and played some good attacking football? All the talk of the title being gone is premature. Stenny clearly need to drop off but it’s possible and wouldn’t require a miracle to happen - especially given our squad is more than capable of winning most games. Yesterday was an absolute disaster. It was a very reminiscent feeling from the Ayr UTD game years ago. At 4-2 my only concern was where we could get a 5th - so definitely an absolute bottle job. This one will sting for a while but there’s nothing we can do about it now and 3 points next week would begin to repair the damage. Shout out to those who wanted Lynas starting over Pignateillo earlier in the season, because of his ‘more direct passing’. Absolutely lol - they’re miles apart and had Pignateillo played yesterday we would have torn them to shreds down the right, in the second half. Lynas repeatedly showed no ability to progress forward with the ball and the decision making of some passes was incredibly poor. Obviously he’s a very committed and hardworking player but I think he often plays without much thought process. It was pretty solid in last seasons park the bus and hit nd hope era but this season when we’re trying to retain possession, he stands out like sore thumb.

And yet Arsenal are above them in the league. Zinchenko ordinarily wouldn’t have played yesterday but Tomiyasu and Timber are both injured. When all are fit Zinchenko will predominantly play in games where the other team sits in a low block (when his defensive skills are less important). There’s no doubt he’s incredible at inverting into midfield and dictating the game. Only 2/3 in the world can do it as well as him.

Not looking forward to todays game at all. Missing Pignateillo is a huge blow. Anyone know a time scale of his injury? Would be gutted if he’s out for a number of games. The weather will make this one a farce. High winds on a soggy pitch. Will be impressed if the score isn’t 0-0, 1-0 or 0-1 tbh. The heaviest rain appears to come in about 3:30pm so an abandonment isn’t even out of the question.

On the referee decisions. I think the penalty shout for Forfar is a probably a penalty AND a red card. No doubt he’s looking for it but you are entitled to shield the ball and Crighton ends up barging through the back of him whilst making no effort to play the ball. Unlucky Forfar. The pen against Lynas is soft, especially as he appears to be fouled first. I think the free kick for our third goal is probably just on the line and therefore a penalty. Some great goals in there and good attacking play all round. I maintain that Michael Ruth is probably my favourite Dumbarton player since Dom Thomas. Defensively we really need Durnan back as Lynas looks shakey - no doubt about it. I think Broun is a decent keeper but probably lacks the presence that Long has. We’ll have to accept being slightly vulnerable defensively in his absence. It feel harsh that we’re 8 point off the top because we have been pretty consistent and performance wise are miles bettter than last season. Credit must go to Stenny though (and Peterhead)! Great team and it will be an uphill task to catch them unless they get a few injuries. I doubt whether they could have coped with missing comparatively who we had out yesterday so hopefully they have that to deal with at some point. All we can do is keep putting points on the board and the target for the next two weeks must be 6 points (regardless of our poor record at Stranraer)

It would little sense though for someone far afield to plan to come to this 1 game. The only game of the season where there is the slightest prospect of a sell out. Even if we’re in the playoffs or have a game to win the title there will be absolutely no issues getting a ticket (also surely a far more exciting prospect for any proper Dumbarton fan). If someone specifically wants to attend this game but no others it’s clearly because of the opponents.

I think you’d be questioning how much a Dumbarton fan someone is if they’ve not been to a game all season but suddenly want to attend this one. I agree with the Season ticket holders and evidence of a previous ticket only. I personally have been to every home game in the league this season but presumably I’m likely to get shafted for this game despite sitting in a stadium 1/4 full for nearly every other game (I don’t have a season ticket).