Sons' sorrow

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

Obviously Colm feels strongly but it never comes over well when the name calling starts. There is more personal stuff on there now about the Sonstrust director. The club appears not to be in a great place.

To be honest, the issue lies with our ex employees, not the club.

As I suspected, Aitken appears to be trying his hardest to create a divide. Any supporter or staff member partaking in such pish should just f**k off and let everyone else move on.

[Boghead ranter]

As I previously posted, Aitken is long gone, but has left a huge, unflushable turd behind him.

Until all the Aitken loyalists are rooted out of The Rock and fired into the Leven, we're not going to move on.

[Jan Vojáček]

I know it's totally beyond reason, but I still can't get my head around the love for Aitken. He took over with us just having finished 7th in the Championship, lead us to two consecutive eighth place finishes, relegation and then ninth in League One. During which time he fell out with a very well respected captain who was a solid player, suffered the worst result in my lifetime, struggled to build a squad that stayed together for more than six months, produced the single worst performance I can remember (Raith at home) and seemed intent on signing anyone with Rangers on their CV. Sure there were some very memorable moments, and some smashing results, but that was offset by just how vile we were to watch 90% of the time.

He was also the first Sons manager since McCabe who made me choose to not bother with some away games because the result and performance was so inevitable. 

Duffy might not have us shooting up the league, but I'm just relieved to see us actually attacking games under him. 

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

I know it's totally beyond reason, but I still can't get my head around the love for Aitken. He took over with us just having finished 7th in the Championship, lead us to two consecutive eighth place finishes, relegation and then ninth in League One. During which time he fell out with a very well respected captain who was a solid player, suffered the worst result in my lifetime, struggled to build a squad that stayed together for more than six months, produced the single worst performance I can remember (Raith at home) and seemed intent on signing anyone with Rangers on their CV. Sure there were some very memorable moments, and some smashing results, but that was offset by just how vile we were to watch 90% of the time.

He was also the first Sons manager since McCabe who made me choose to not bother with some away games because the result and performance was so inevitable. 

Duffy might not have us shooting up the league, but I'm just relieved to see us actually attacking games under him. 

It's bizarrely tribal, and I think it confirms that some people choose favourites based on completely non-footballing reasons.

The same supporters who love Stevie Aitken hate Ian Murray. They don't understand football and how it works, they have taken offence to a guy they love as a person being sacked.

 

As for staff members, if they can't get over the fact their pal was quite rightly removed from his position then that's their problem and we're far better off without them. Alan Findlay, for some bizarre reason, has now been blamed by Aitken and Colm. It's quite clear through their tears and snotters they are looking for a fall guy and he's it, unfortunately. It also confirms they are all working in cahoots to create bad feeling amongst the supporter who hang onto their every word. The amount of arse licking being done towards Colm is cringeworthy and I have no doubt a lot of people will lap up what he has to say.

 

Regardless of what Aitken and Colm have to say or whatever pish/nonsense gets spouted on here - Mr Findlay has done more for Dumbarton FC than any of these clowns have combined and that's an absolute fact. We owe them absolutely nothing. Good riddance to every single one of them.

 

[George Parr]

We need some positive transfer news to distract from all this desperately dull 'kit co-ordinator' stuff.

[Old Scrotum]

Remind me please. Who was this Stevie Aitken bloke?

[Old Scrotum]

14 hours ago, Lichtie78 said:

The shorts thing is surely just down to the ref?

Aye, and you didn't argue with Tiny Wharton when he told you to get them changed.

 

[Old Scrotum]

My favourite colour clash was Thistle in their red/yellow halved shirts and black shorts at The Rock with Dumbarton in a yellow top,  black shorts ensemble. If a visiting player was facing the wrong way you couldn't tell which side he was playing for.

Didn't last long - Dumbarton sent to don the all-white away kit.

[Old Scrotum]

I would have thought that Barney's outfit was more of a colour clash with Stenny's strips than our red kit.

And just be lucky you don't watch games on a black-and-white telly.

[cameron2000]

You’ve just banged in your second free kick of the game. Your manager - ‘Ross, go left back’[emoji23]

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

 
"Commercial Director" 
6 seasons in The Championship v Rangers, Hibs, Hearts, Dundee United, Dundee, Partick Thistle etc - A sum total of half a dozen advertisement hoardings mustered  behind the goals in our Stadium.
"Commercial Director"
6 seasons in The Championship with 600 - 700 home fans & we never had a Club Shop to speak of.
"Commercial Director"
Sponsor a game/match ball costing a pretty penny & you have to ASK for the match ball you sponsored/paid for -  great PR
"Commercial Director"
Recent 'Festive Season' Hospitality v Stranraer was sold at "buy 1 get 1 free" without telling our caterer
"Commercial Director "
Absolutely no need to do this as virtually every 'Festive Season' hospitality package sells out at cost price anyway.
Costing our club & caterer £1000's
"Commercial Director"
Excellent caterer now leaving [emoji20]
 
You could not fucking make it up.
 
 
 
 
 

Whilst I'm taking pops at everyone, tell your pal Sloany he's an overpriced bawbag. I was on the shitter for a week after one of the player of the year events. Lets not pretend he's fuckin Heston Blumenthal, despite him charging similar sorts of prices.

[Howlin' Wilf]

My favourite colour clash was Thistle in their red/yellow halved shirts and black shorts at The Rock with Dumbarton in a yellow top,  black shorts ensemble. If a visiting player was facing the wrong way you couldn't tell which side he was playing for.
Didn't last long - Dumbarton sent to don the all-white away kit.

Remember a league game in 71-72 at Boghead when Albion Rovers appeared in a minging ‘primrose’ yellow kit with white sleeves. Ref decided to despatch Sons to change from white kit to gold midway through first half.

[Jan Vojáček]

In amongst the discussion, it's just hit me how weird this is.

We have our former kitman saying that he'll get rid of the trust's man on the board, and fans reacting with love hearts to that because of loyalty to a manager who got us relegated and left us in a right mess, all whilst we have no idea what's going on with our mysterious owners who have been nothing but bad news for the club.

Honest to God. 

[O'Kelly Isley III]

In amongst the discussion, it's just hit me how weird this is.
We have our former kitman saying that he'll get rid of the trust's man on the board, and fans reacting with love hearts to that because of loyalty to a manager who got us relegated and left us in a right mess, all whilst we have no idea what's going on with our mysterious owners who have been nothing but bad news for the club.
Honest to God. 

It appears to me that two one-armed men are fighting over a single oar, completely oblivious to the fact that the rowing boat is currently heading into a huge whirlpool.

[Old Scrotum]

It all makes Brexit seem a sensible discussion.

 

[Boghead ranter]

Chairman's New Year message from the OS, for those that don't want to read italics

Quote

THIS time 12 months ago, we were looking forward to the start of 2018.

We all knew we had the Irn Bru Cup semi-final away to The New Saints lying ahead. It was every bit the festivity we hoped it would be, but little did we know what a challenging year it would be over the big picture.

As we get ready to see out that year, we can look back at it having undergone just about every emotion possible. That phrase is well-used, but it is hard not to use it where Dumbarton are concerned.

If things had worked out differently, the Irn Bru Cup would still be sitting in our cabinet and we would either still be in the Championship or sitting higher in League One than we find ourselves.

Unfortunately, none of these have come to pass, but it does not diminish the contribution made by our supporters over the past 12 months.

From our first game of the year, a goalless draw at Queen of the South, to Saturday's match at Stenhousemuir, you have been there to support us.

You have done it in all weathers too, from the glorious sunshine we enjoyed at Spartans in our opening Betfred Cup tie, to the cold, stormy conditions at Raith Rovers only a couple of weeks ago.

I can't remember snow at any of our games this year, but I'm sure that if we'd had it, you'd have been there through that as well!

We just wish we could have rewarded you better. Whether that would be by bringing home the Irn Bru Cup, retaining our place in the Championship, or going into 2019 in a higher position in League One, we would have liked to have given you at least one of those outcomes.

But that's football. You go through the low points to appreciate the high ones more. It is fair to say that we have had our share of kicks in the teeth this year. We hope that these are now at an end and the club can now move forward.

And it is fitting that you have seen out the old year being able to watch a truly special piece of skill by Ross Forbes which gave us a vital result at Ochilview.

That goal ensured that we finish 2018 in eighth place in League One, with more of a cushion than we would otherwise have had.

It would be a lie for us to say that this is where we anticipated or hoped to be at this stage of the season when it got underway back in August.

While we would repeat that injuries have adversely affected our squad, the bottom line is that results have not aligned with what we hoped for.

This came to a head on Monday, October 8 when we took a decision which, although we felt, and still do feel, was necessary, is always a horrendous one to take.

We fully understand the frustration of our former manager at the events of that day. He never gave the job anything less than his best shot, and it is always distinctly unpleasant to tell a human being that he no longer has a job.

However, the club felt a change of management was necessary, and in Jim Duffy we secured our number one candidate nearly two weeks later.

It has been a challenge for Jim to improve our fortunes so far and will continue to be so, but in 30 years as a manager he has never dodged a challenge and will not start now.

It is a challenge he is meeting, with extremely positive results posted at home to East Fife and Brechin City and efforts to the finish to draw with Airdrie and, on Saturday, Stenhousemuir.

There is much talk on the terraces and in the stands about potential changes taking place to the squad in January.

We wish to make one thing absolutely clear - Jim will be backed by the board to the fullest extent possible.

If we are unable to sanction a transfer then there will be fully valid reasons why.

It should also be remembered that while we are not in a position we hoped to be in at the start of the season, we are only eight points away from fourth place, with 51 still to play for over the remaining 17 matchdays.

Should it not come to pass that we reach that position, we would simply dust ourselves down and get ready for another go at it next season.

But anything which is still an arithmetical possibility should be our aim until it is no longer as such.

In what remains of this season, we will endeavour to ensure that Dumbarton FC is the best it can be. And that will continue further into the new calendar year which is almost upon us.

We trust that you will be back with us in 2019, keeping up the support at home and away.

And we hope that your numbers will be swelled as more people sign up to our support.

We will do our utmost to reward you.

On behalf of the entire club may I wish all our staff, sponsors and supporters a Happy New Year which brings you everything you wish for, in football and other walks of life.

John Steele

 

 

[Sons of Anarchy]

2 hours ago, Ross Forbes said:

I know it's totally beyond reason, but I still can't get my head around the love for Aitken. He took over with us just having finished 7th in the Championship, lead us to two consecutive eighth place finishes, relegation and then ninth in League One. During which time he fell out with a very well respected captain who was a solid player, suffered the worst result in my lifetime, struggled to build a squad that stayed together for more than six months, produced the single worst performance I can remember (Raith at home) and seemed intent on signing anyone with Rangers on their CV. Sure there were some very memorable moments, and some smashing results, but that was offset by just how vile we were to watch 90% of the time.

He was also the first Sons manager since McCabe who made me choose to not bother with some away games because the result and performance was so inevitable. 

Duffy might not have us shooting up the league, but I'm just relieved to see us actually attacking games under him. 

This.

 

[sonsism]

2 hours ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

Regardless of what Aitken and Colm have to say or whatever pish/nonsense gets spouted on here - Mr Findlay has done more for Dumbarton FC than any of these clowns have combined and that's an absolute fact. We owe them absolutely nothing. Good riddance to every single one of them.

 

Absolutely spot on. 

The fans in question - we all know who they are - seem to equate how friendly a manger is to how good a manager they are.  All the “he’s such a nice guy” rhetortic around Aitken has been proven to be an act these past few months as he continues to be a seething bitter mess that plays the victim after he is rightly called out for his bullshit on social media. 

P and B seems to get a bad rep from those in the game - probably because they’re all getting slated on it - but f**k me, watching Aitken and Colm’s meltdowns makes it feel like we’re a bunch of scholars and they’re in primary school. The next club they find themselves at would be wise to ban them from social media.

I was hoping once Aitken left the shite around the club would start to lift - clearly some very stubborn skid marks on the pan at DFC.

[C'mon_the_Sons]

28 minutes ago, sonsism said:

Absolutely spot on. 

The fans in question - we all know who they are - seem to equate how friendly a manger is to how good a manager they are.  All the “he’s such a nice guy” rhetortic around Aitken has been proven to be an act these past few months as he continues to be a seething bitter mess that plays the victim after he is rightly called out for his bullshit on social media. 

P and B seems to get a bad rep from those in the game - probably because they’re all getting slated on it - but f**k me, watching Aitken and Colm’s meltdowns makes it feel like we’re a bunch of scholars and they’re in primary school. The next club they find themselves at would be wise to ban them from social media.

I was hoping once Aitken left the shite around the club would start to lift - clearly some very stubborn skid marks on the pan at DFC.

Bleach.... and not to put down the pan. 

[BallochSonsFan]

I think it's time for people to move on.

Aitken is clearly unhappy. From a footballing viewpoint it was correct to dismiss him, even if the associated compensation has put a little more unwanted pressure on club finances. I had sympathy with the injuries the squad had (and continues to have) and I don't think that all of the players were  giving him 100% but Aitken's conduct since his dismissal hasn't been particularly great. Some of the comments he's made on radio and on social media have been unfair and unhelpful. The club has done the right thing in avoiding a tit-for-tat argument with him in public and it's now an issue that's solely between Aitken and his former employer to formalise any compensation arrangements. The same goes for Colm. He was a good servant to the club. He's decided that he doesnt want to continue in his role at this time. He's making comments  that neither the club, nor any individual club officials, are responding to in public at this time.

Then we have Aitken's Army. I'm not going to criticise them - they spend their hard earned cash following the club all over Scotland. They're also not on Pie n Bovril to defend themselves. Its easy at times for people to bite and to get into arguments on social media. It's easy to block them, ignore them or otherwise not engage with them. Don't like what they say? Put them on ignore. You'll be happier for it. We can't keep in-fighting, wallowing in misery (as much as things aren't great right now) and dragging the atmosphere down to rock bottom.

It's a difficult season for the club. The board have worked hard to clean up the mess they inherited from previous chairmen. They're working hard to manage the club in a way that doesn't put our future at risk. That doesnt just mean firefighting - there are areas of the club that we as fans would like to see improved and the board have their own aims and ambitions in that respect. Again there are legacy issues that need to  be addressed as well as trying to make positive changes going forward. There's also the serious issue of Brabco and their immediate intentions for their shareholding.

We can't afford to fill in any gaps in public knowledge with imagined problems - we've got enough genuine problems to deal with without inventing new ones. The board as as open as possible and are willing to engage with fans. Want to know something? Ask. If they can't make everything public then it's because there are commercial or other sensitivities involved but they've so far been true to their commitment to being as open as they can be. Similarly we've got enough battles ahead of us without trying to pick more fights with fellow fans or former employees that we don't need to. Tomorrow is the first day of the new year and I'd hope that we as a support can start afresh, concentrate on the things that are actually important to our immediate and our longer term future and let old arguments go long after they've been worth fighting about.

The new board have been clear from the outset that the days of the "them and us" culture are over. There is no "them" - there is only "us". We need to make sure that we're focused on the important issues in 2019 and don't allow ourselves to be distracted by in-fighting, by people who have grievances that the club will deal with in a professional capacity or by extra problems that we're quick to invent for ourselves .