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6 hours ago, microdave said:

The very though of Dom Thomas playing second fiddle to Kevin Nisbet is mind boggling imo!

Kevin Nisbet was the highest scoring Scottish player in 2019, he's the second highest scorer in the championship behind Scotland International Shankland. 

Either way I meant as a number 10.

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Kevin Nisbet was the highest scoring Scottish player in 2019, he's the second highest scorer in the championship behind Scotland International Shankland. 
Either way I meant as a number 10.

There's absolutely no doubt that Nisbet has been excellent since his time with us. I was basing it on his performances for us albeit with a ver defensive minded manager in comparison to DT who was immense for us. Fwiw, I hope Dom is successful with you as I really like him. I'm glad he's getting the chance to play rather than being a bit part player for Killie.
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Wouldn't mind taking the cowards way out and this game being called off today.

Big ask to win with the squad being so light.

Give injured players a chance to be ready for when it's rescheduled and give Duffy much needed finger out of arse signing time.

*that's assuming the weather is as bad as in Dumbarton as it is at my flat.

Edited by sarti pooh
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Wouldn't mind taking the cowards way out and this game being called off today.
Big ask to win with the squad being so light.
Give injured players a chance to be ready for when it's rescheduled and give Duffy much needed finger out of arse signing time.
*that's assuming the weather is as bad as in Dumbarton as it is at my flat.
Given that the wind is due to subside at midday and the Squad of '72 are attending hospitality, I think every chance will be given to the game proceeding.

I do see where you're coming from re injuries, etc., but we can't get into jouking fixtures because we've been running a threadbare squad all season. I'd be a lot happier if I thought there was both dialogue and a plan in place for the remainder of the season
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Got 3 bus tickets on the City Gold Bus for this Saturday, £60 for the 3, details below - pm me if interested. Cheers

From: Glasgow, Buchanan Bus Station (8:40 AM)
To: Aberdeen, Bus Station (11:30 AM)
From: Aberdeen, Bus Station (7:45 PM)
To: Glasgow, Buchanan Bus Station (11:00 PM)

Edited by Rock Star
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On 07/01/2020 at 19:19, BallochSonsFan said:

It hasn't.

I have doubts as to whether or not Brabco could deliver what they said they would at the cost they thought they could. Land prices were best case scenarios. Budgets for infrastructure looked very optimistic considering the scale of the changes needed to the A82 and the poor state of the alternative Renton Road. I was never completely convinced that we'd ever get the final 4000 capacity version of their blueprint and always suspected that we'd get a minimum viable product and that later phases simply wouldn't happen, money having since been spent on the club's running costs.

A new stadium would have given the club the opportunity to explore alternative revenue streams. Those were primarily from the renting of artificial pitches for community use and from the renting of space for office use. There was also the opportunity to increase events at a new stadium with upgraded events space.

None of that offered any guarantees. Artificial pitches only bring in money if you build them at the right cost and can hire them out almost constantly at the right price. It's questionable whether or not the finances stacked up. I'd argue that they didn't and that Brabco's figures were "ambitious" at best. It's not that they didnt do any work on their plans but some of the assumptions about usage were way off for an area with relatively high unemployment and a low paid workforce.

You then look at other facility users. We've got an office park in Clydebank that has some major office space available at competitive rates. Attracting a decent-sized venue user (for example a call centre) wouldn't be straight forward. It would have taken some financial incentives from the local authority as a means of creating jobs and it would have required the club to expand significantly and bring in new skills.

Venue hire? The efforts of those fans who volunteer to organise events with a view to fundraising for the club are phenomenal. We're incredibly lucky to have a group of fans with the passion and dedication to try to make these things a success. But to fully maximise the facilities at a new stadium we'd have been looking to hire for exhibitions, conferences, weddings and other significant social occasions. The wedding market for a football club is incredibly small. You've got a 2 month window in May and June where you have very few home games and that frees up Saturdays for wedding receptions. Over the course of a season that runs July to early May? You're not going to attract weddings when you can't guarantee venue use 6 months or more in advance of a wedding date. The conference market in West Dunbartonshire? Not exactly huge demand.

Then there's the issue of growing the crowd. The location of the new ground wouldn't have been ideal. It would certainly have been newer and would have addressed some of the maintenance concerns that previous boards mismanaged. The current club board havent had their problems to seek in terms of the bricks and mortar of the current ground. But would the new ground have attracted new fans? I'm not convinced. It certainly wouldn't have been enough on it's own. The local public in Dumbarton and the Vale of Leven and in Helensburgh generally care very little for the club. A new ground wouldn't in itself attract new fans and we've got sufficient space in the current stand to run any promotions we want to with the intention of attracting new fans. We already offer free tickets to local football and other youth groups. We run ticket offers to encourage parents to take children to games. A new ground doesnt ignite interest in the club amongst people who at best regard us with complete apathy. 

The changes needed at Dumbarton run far deeper than the stadium. There needs to be fundamental change at the club. It doesnt need a new stadium on the edge of town to make that happen. The current board and the volunteer working group are already trying to make those changes happen and it's interesting to see that a lot of people who attend the various functions at the club are not Dumbarton fans. That's important because it starts to change opinion and to make people think of the current ground as a community facility that can be used, hopefully bringing in additional revenue that the club needs. Ideally that would be matched with an increase in fans contributing to healthier crowds and a local community that values it's football club more. In reality that's a long and difficult road for all lower league clubs to try to go down.

The new stadium would have been an opportunity but it certainly wasnt a guarantee. The council's refusal to allow planning permission cannot be seen as an insurmountable barrier to the future of Dumbarton FC.

Some good reasoning there but all of what has been said does not mitigate the present situation the Sons find themselves in. New owners with cash and a vision. What club wouldn't like that?

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You'll all know because you've already picked up your copy of this week's Lennox (featuring the latest on Duffy's attempts to sign players and an exclusive chat with big Morgyn Neill) but Matthew Shiels has returned to Rangers and is now set to join Orange County (lolz) on loan.

When was the last good player we had on loan from Rangers? Even McCrorie was extremely average and he's gone on to do alright.

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1 hour ago, Homer Sandoval said:

Some good reasoning there but all of what has been said does not mitigate the present situation the Sons find themselves in. New owners with cash and a vision. What club wouldn't like that?

It's a fantasy. 

New owners willing to pump money in to clubs would be welcome across the whole of Scottish football. In some cases we've even seen that happen with the money being spent at Highland and Lowland level by a few sides and with moves to attract ambitious junior teams. 

But there's a significant danger in small teams relying on a generous benefactor. Gretna should be a warning to fans who think that the money isn't going to dry up. 

And Brabco have never been keen to spend money on Dumbarton. 

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41 minutes ago, Squirrelhumper said:

Frizzell been recalled.

to be honest...apart from his debut, he has been a bit of a disappointment. I expected more from him

I am aware at this stage, we need bodies, and he wasn't terrible, but overall didn't produce all that much

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We are in a seriously desperate situation right now and it's extremely disappointing that Duffy wasn't better prepared for us losing our 3 loanees back to their parent clubs tbh. He doesn't have any exit trials to fall back on in this window.

I wasn't particularly a huge fan of Frizzell, I felt he spent too often posted missing, but I have no confidence in Duffy replacing him with anyone better, especially now that he simply HAS to bring anyone in.

If we go into Saturday with no new bodies, and injured players making up numbers on the bench we will get shagged rotten.

I can't say I'm surprised. Whilst Duffy is a good manager when it comes to setting up a team and getting the best out of players, his approach to being prepared during transfer windows is a huge concern for me.

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