Nithsdale Wanderer

Great choice. Excellent winger and absolute cannonball of a shot on him. The ' Peter Lorimer' of the Scottish League according to the Press of the time.

Notice you missed out the key word 'effective'. Nowhere near as strong in the air or as good at holding the ball up and holding off defenders nor crucially, the ability to find the back of the net. At present, nowhere near the contributor to the team that Big Sean was.

Don't believe that. I have never heard Lyle be anything other than positive about the Club and his many team-mates over the years, Of course he wouldn't be the first 'senior' player to be frustrated and dumped by the current Manager. At least Dobbie recognises Lyle's talent and contribution to the Club. By the way, you've done it again - what on earth do you mean by " get that chip off your shoulder" ?

Please explain, as I don't understand. Who is incorrect, about what and why again ? Why did he have no future, you make it sound very dramatic as if there was some sort of disciplinary issue ?

I just don't get this attitude that Lyle has reached a certain stage and is now completely useless and ineffectual. Of course, nature dictates that anyone will slow down with age but that is not the only factor to be considered. Dobbie is now fitter than he ever was with us first time around but he does not - and never has had - great pace. He and Lyle compensate for that with their experience and natural instinct to get themselves into scoring positions. They are sharp mentally and don.t rely purely on the physical. Lyle is a far superior player than Dykes because of that and I would argue that Del wins more headers, holds the ball up far better , would provide more assists for Dobbie - they are on the same wavelength - and score far more goals. He would therefore be an asset to this and any other team, To not offer him a contract for one more season and leave ourselves glaringly short of striking options - which most seem to agree on - is very poor Management.

It seems it would have made complete sense to offer Lyle a contract on reduced terms if necessary. He would appear to have all the attributes that we are looking for at the present time.

Nonsense. Harkins did not exhibit any of that kind of behaviour and looked to be enjoying playing with Dobbie. Baird was the one for that sort of thing !

After not seeing him for years, I have seen Billy Simpson at recent games, very sad to hear. I did not know him personally but he was indeed the name quoted in the seventies to contact re. Supporters Club/Travel.

He has been unable to conceal his anger in numerous interviews and openly criticised and blamed players on several occasions. I only have this second hand but am led to believe that after the East Fife match to which you refer he was far from happy and in his comments to the media stated that his weekend had been ruined and that he was not able to fulfil a dinner date with his wife due to his reaction to the performance that day and that he had let the players know this too. That is absolutely pathetic and I repeat, shows a weakness in character and self control. If your work, whatever that might be, affects you and your family in that way then it's time to try something else.

As regards the game itself I thought it was a hard-earned point. As expected, Ayr were much slicker than us with much more possession and more goalscoring opportunities but we stuck to our task and gained the reward for that. I really enjoyed the experience yesterday as it reminded me of days gone by. A dank, grey November day floodlights on and a greasy grass pitch at a traditional old ground that I first visited around 50 years ago. The support was great yesterday and so much better to have a terracing to use than a soul-less all seater.

Just before we scored Naysmith was having a right go at Doyle for something but Doyle was giving it back too. However, Naysmith's comments to the written press confirm what has already been alluded to. Shock, horror - fans disagree with Managers decision and let him know about it ! He really should be above reacting to that or letting it affect him in any way - it's been happening all the 50 years I have been watching football and will continue long after I have gone. I do not agree with vile, personal abuse but absolutely believe that fans should be able to articulate their views on the Manager, players and their performance, no matter how crass or ill informed those views maybe - everyone is entitled to their opinion. Anyone in Football Management should be well aware of what happens and be professional enough and have belief in their own ability to ignore and rise above it. For a Manager even to react to that, let alone the sarcastic tone Naysmith has employed shows a lack of character and self control. Based on his mood and comments in various interviews since he took over I have long suspected he had a weakness in this area. A good Manager - not just in football - cannot be effective when he is not calm and in control and able to demonstrate leadership to those he is expected to motivate and get the best out of. Let's just hope everyone in the Old Stand remains silent on Saturday and thereafter.

Sadly, I am going to have to but with good reason. My memory has just been jogged by 'Show Racism the Red Card' publicity. Recently at Firhill after Partick had introduced their late subs there was a clear Racist comment by someone behind me. I turned around but was unable to identify which individual in the group had descended to such a disgusting level - if I had been able to they would have been reported to the authorities. I guess they will know who they are but will not feel ashamed in any way or else they would not have uttered the unacceptable comments in the first place. This proves we still have a need for this campaign.

Good to hear Danny Carmichael starring for Cumnock Juniors in a MOM performance. Felt really sorry for him when leaving last season and wondered what would happen with him. After starring with us he got his 'big' move to Hibs but then all went wrong through injury. All the best to him and if he stays with Cumnock he will be joining up again with Burns and McKenna, Oh to have those 3 back at their peak !

I reckon that too but Naysmith is on record as saying those are not his instructions !

To quote the late, great, James Sanderson " were you at the game today ? " Whatever his name, their number 9 was a nuisance all game but then again to cause our defence a problem may not be the greatest recommendation !

Well , well , not much has changed. Passed off the Park for the first 35 minutes by a very confident and comfortable on the ball Stranraer side whilst we continued to punt it aimlessly long, Last season Naysmith said those were not his instructions and that the players were deciding to do it. I cannot believe they choose to defy him so repeatedly and can only deduce that he is actually authorising that approach. Time after time Bell - as Murray was last season - was in acres of space on the right but we chose to bypass him and lump it up. On the rare occasion we did try to find him it took 2 or 3 passes to get there instead of 1 resulting in Stranraer defenders having time to mark up. As I said, they were much slicker and sharper in their passing than we were. I really was hoping Naysmith would have sorted out our defensive frailties for this season but that first 35 minutes was appalling and the remainder of the game we looked dodgy every time they attacked. How on earth are we going to cope against decent Championship teams ? We will not be able to give any of them a 2 goal start and still come out on top.. I do not believe a defence containing Robinson, Hamill, Dowie and Higgins could perform any worse than what we witnessed today. Still, the Manager knows best. Lyle would still offer much more than Dykes ever will - still too easily outmuscled and lightweight. In actual fact, I was much more impressed by their number 9 - Layne I think - and since we are looking for a striker I would strongly consider him. Great pace, good touch and general nuisance all game. Indeed several of their players were very impressive. Credit to their Manager as - apart from crazy 5 minute spell - they looked well organised, disciplined and very comfortable playing football the way it should be played - something Naysmith has failed to do since he first arrived. Obviously , pleased to score 5 and win the game but we will struggle all season against better teams if we continue to defend like that. Dobbie and Harkins showed their class but we cannot rely on them to get us out of such a mess every game.

According to the papers today Stirling is not in our plans with both Dumbarton and Ayr interested. If this is true why on earth did Naysmith sign him in the first place ? Yet another example of his poor management skills - he would rather ditch people than work with them to get the best out of them. It seems the majority of fans thought he had something to offer but was never given a decent chance. Will this be another contract that has to be paid up which we can ill afford ?

An opinion, but based on what ?

Hugely disappointing . Your wording suggests that is all down to the player himself but if I have got that wrong then surely you would have to agree that it was down to extremely poor judgement by our Manager in not selecting him when fit and available and playing him up front with Dobbie - hugely intelligent, talented partnership.

Let's hope we sign him up then ! Probably would with a different Manager at the helm. It's just nonsense that ' he's done' . I always thought he would continue as he is still fit and smart enough to pla y regularly. He has been disgracefully under utilised this season by Naysmith, he is the one that should be going - hopefully still time for that to happen. If not staying with us , my money would be joining up with Beany at Dumbarton. Wherever he is all the best to him.

If the system is there then I guess we should use it to our potential advantage. However, it seems too easy to resort to this. I thought the point of having a squad was to cover injuries. As I understand it, we have one striker injured - Dobbie- which leaves 4 available if you include Dykes, which our Manager certainly does. That is more than ample numerical cover especially given we only usually play one strker anyway. The game has become ridiculous with the excessive number of subs allowed and various loan systems. I wish the lad well but imagine our Manager will invent some elaborate plan that will detract from any attacking threat he may possess.

Thought he was really good for us, Had fantastic pace but, as I think he is trying to point out, knew how to finish too - just ask some Partick fans. What he says rings true i.e. this is football it's how it is just get on with it. Brannigan certainly was of that ilk and I remember him more than once speaking publicly - and negatively - about Weatherston's attitude and lack of commitment. It was quite clear he didn't like Weatherston very much based on his social background as he referred to that too. He and Naysmith are very similar when it comes to being negative in public about players. More importantly though it's high time that some people who attend football finally realise that players are only human and have feelings and emotions and that they should remember this before moronically verbally abusing them. So don't just pay 'lip service' to the tragic story of Chris Mitchell and others but make it a catalyst to change attitudes and behaviours.

According to the OS Lyle has not yet recovered from his 'knock'. Over the years I have generally thought a 'knock' to be not a major injury and on average take a couple of weeks - 3 at very most - to overcome. Seems Del has had this one for some weeks now and is not yet fit. There has been no mention of a more serious injury by the Club. Is this yet another example of Naysmith 'freezing out' a high profile player- in this case a true Club legend - who he is not happy with or has had words with ?

I suggest you go and watch the performances against Rangers particularly the 3-0 mauling in April - best complete team performance I have ever seen - as well as the 2-0 in the December. prior. You will not be able to deny the slick, pacy, incisive and attractive football on display there. Not forgetting the play-off performance at Ibrox. The move for the opener there - to equalise in the tie - was superb and took no more than 30 seconds, The only time the ball was in the air was Danny's superb cross expertly headed home by Del Boy. These were not isolated performances by the way. I often watch these games to remind how good we were then. A bitter-sweet experience now. Naysmith does not approach football that way which makes it a chore to watch - even with Dobbie. In fact, Naysmith's incompetence is masked by Dobbie and his goals. Without him we would be fighting to avoid the relegation play-off spot.

Do you mean Scally or me ? Either way, it's the weekend just chill !