Bring Your Own Socks

Bob McHugh scored. The rest is just detail.

Despite our league position, we're still not settled yet. It's a lot like last season actually, defence pretty stable and the main reason we are top - just seven goals against in nine games. The balance between middle and front is the challenge although to be fair most games we've dominated possession and shots attempted. We're fine-tuning really but there's an uncanny amount of nervousness and shaking of confidence, on and off the park. Can't really call this one yet. Looking forward to it though.

Pay at the gate, with….cash! Checked with DFC. No cards or scanners.

Streaming info for anyone with fear and trembling about going to the game… https://www.dumbartonfootballclub.com/news/?mode=view&id=5028

We’ve had a couple of peeks at Ferrie so comparing him to Muir who has had a good season so far is hard to be realistic about. Fox was closest to both scorers for goals 2 and 3 but otherwise played okay if not at the quality we’ve come to expect. Kilday was lacklustre again. Thankfully both Doyle and Robson were on their game. Overall we matched Killie in all areas and competed well, no battering at any time like our last visit there. The difference between the two teams was taking chances, simple as that. The scoreline slightly flattered Killie but they deserved the win for taking their chances. Other than that there really wasn’t much between these two. Laurie focussed on the defensive errors but in the league we’re doing fine there, although Morrison would be welcome back in favour of Kilday. Having clean sheets every week in L1 is hopeful. We can win this league with the defence we have. We’re not going to win it with the strike force we have.

Thanks for showing interest in the club. Tickets for our next home game are still available. The dispute with the contractor is at an end. The hiatus allowed the new CEO an opportunity to review the plans and put some fresh thinking to it. Meanwhile, we have a year-long arrangement at Firhill for match days. The plan is to return to Lesser for the start of 22-23 season. That's ample time to rebuild Lesser, or the Fourth Hampden as I prefer to call it.

You really should take some time to read posts. Dooflick was asking after a list of the sponsors who have engaged, not what the club's sponsor offer is.

There’s a bit of a Marmite flavour to the Challenge Cup. I get the outrage about the B team introduction and the arguments for and against. No fans outside the Premiership are ever going to believe it’s anything less than opportunism, a chance to beef up the stock value of ordinary young players reaching their prime selling price. Nevertheless, it’s a contest that offers the only real chance for the rest of the SPFL clubs to lift a knockout cup and despite all the negativity, I doubt if any fan wouldn’t be there if their favourites made it to the final. Anyone who was at Oswestry 3 years ago will vouch for the special event that was. For a team that had Billy Mortimer as striker and included giants of the game like James Grant and Adam Martin it was a remarkable performance and result. Tonight brings some relief. Our performances this season, built on last year’s champions, has very much tipped the Hope & Expectation see-saw toward the latter. Tonight, Hope is very much to the fore and I’m okay with that. Laurie seems keen to do well in this competition so we should see a strong team. My biggest hope is the players lift themselves and do the best they are capable of. If they manage that, the result will take care of itself. Enjoy yourself…it’s later than you think!

Here’s what’s been posted so far. There’s more for games, balls, strips etc but not yet in a concise page. There is a page on the website marked Commercial where all this could go. Hopefully someone at HQ will put this on the to-do list.

Given we've already beat Falkirk and Cove that's a bit of a slap for the regular players in the team. Most of the squad have experience at Championship or above. Our loanees are from Celtic, Rangers, Hearts and Liverpool...hardly ordinary. We have a bigger squad than both Falkirk and Cove. We have a state-of-the-art training facility including a dedicated kitchen and dining area. A dedicated sports scientist and physiotherapist, both recently highlighted in detail on QPTV. We have the capability to train on grass or artificial, both next to each other on the same site as the dining room, medical suite and gymnasium. Aside of all that, we have seen these guys at their best already and it's withering a bit already. After Mo's goal on Sunday only Mike Doyle was trying to lift heads...there was an awful lot of moods going on. They're full time employees, well paid by all accounts, well looked after. Anyone who has paid to get in deserves the very best they can offer every week. And from what I've seen of all other teams now, we should be aiming for first.

Yep, schoolboy stuff in defence but I'd have to lay it at Brown's door as he was the only one with the runner in sight. Kilday was also poor at both goals last week but I gave him the benefit of doubt due to fitness. Looked even more out of it yesterday. But was great against Falkirk.

To be fair, on the video it was a split second of a difference. Linos are trained to look right across the pitch but as a fan it's natural to follow the ball. Been there myself. It was a beautifully weighted pass and cool finish by our lads.

If that was meant to be a diamond in the middle, it didn’t work. Looked more like a 4222 and no one using the width. Murray and McHugh nothing like a partnership and I’d say Murray’s slump is a consequence of having McHugh in the team. After the subs came on, and widened the pitch, we looked much more lively and threatening. Biggest problem today was passing quality. For a team full of skill players who can control a ball quickly, why so many long passes back to front & side to side. The worst offenders were Connell and Kilday and unfortunately several others joined in. Nothing like the short, into-feet game that has ripped apart defences. Was this a tactical change by the coach or just individuals doing what suited them? Either way, we gave a ridiculous amount of possession away. Fox was superb again and Doyle also had a good game, as did Robson on the left. Smith looked the most dangerous and might have done more damage had he use of the space Murray kept taking on the left. Brown had an okay day without influencing the game. Generally the midfield looked like strangers and badly needed some experience in there to run the show. If we play like this on Friday we might we’ll get scudded again by Killie. Congrats to Mo. They certainly looked more like they wanted it than us and their effort and attitude were enviable. Harrying us from the start to finish. Just watched Laurie’s post-match and he seemed unconvinced by the words he was saying. Top of the league, just, is about right for one of the two full-time clubs with excellent training facilities, top level sports science and dietary control and a 28 man squad. Q1 report card says good effort, could do better!

Something quite remarkable happening for our development squad…exciting times!

I’d be very surprised to see Gillespie dropped. Thomson had a good game last week but has been decently ordinary prior to that. Connell should start if he has 90 mins in the tank. Importantly, I don’t see Laurie changing his tried and tested format unless we start scoring 3 or 4 regularly, and I’m sure Mo won’t allow that. So it’s Gillespie and Thomson in the holding line for me. Kilday’s obviously still not as sharp as he’d like so he needs some protection too. I still have a query over the starting striker. If Murray could control his energy at the final moment he’d score more and be the default. McHugh has shown a glimmer of whatever made him a Legend at Falkirk including a nice assist for Thomson and a few very near misses. The two together seems a luxury though. Having all 3 goals last week from open play would suggest a bigger midfield presence so I’ll go for Connell, Brown and Smith. Mo have Webster top of the scorers table and Milne top of the assists. What can possibly go wrong?