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8 minutes ago, DumbartonTheSons said:

So, for those of us trying to piece together this absolute shambles we find ourselves in, what is wrong with our squad?

It's disjointed, yes. It's imbalanced from Aitken's dealing, yes. But why can't we perform no matter what starting eleven we field? Is it fitness? Is it direction? Is it application? Why, why, why?!

Too many players playing out their careers and who know they’re on the way out.

Based on the two games I’ve just seen, the only ones I’d say that are potentially good enough are: Dowie, Ballantyne, Carswell, Hutton, Forbes, Thomas.

Obviously, as we all knew, only one of Hutton/Carswell should’ve been signed.

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23 minutes ago, DumbartonTheSons said:

So, for those of us trying to piece together this absolute shambles we find ourselves in, what is wrong with our squad?

It's disjointed, yes. It's imbalanced from Aitken's dealing, yes. But why can't we perform no matter what starting eleven we field? Is it fitness? Is it direction? Is it application? Why, why, why?!

Wasnt there today but going by what I've seen so far?

Goalkeeping wasnt great with Grant Adam. Smith isnt a bad option to have for the rest of the season if we sign him. Our problems aren't in goal.

Defence? Dyer isnt a particularly good left back. He isnt solid enough defensively and doesnt give us anything going forward. Ballantyne at right back is the exact opposite. Decent enough defending and good going forward. Injuries were an issue but he's back in the side now and that's a boost. Mango was a big loss as I don't think Andy Dowie is delivering for us. Perry was never a particularly good option and Allardyce on loan hasnt really impressed. We've been poor defensively, not helped by the horrendous injuries. It's a season too far for Dowie imo and I don't think he's a good captain on the park.

Midfield? Carswell and Hutton are Carswell and Hutton. Carswell is the better of the 2 but isnt always showing it. Hutton is a convenient whipping boy who isnt nearly as bad as some fans make out. He's not going to make things happen going forward but he works hard. The combination of Carswell and Hutton isnt necessarily terrible but it needs the other midfielders to make things happen and we're not getting that. Ross Forbes has taken a while to get match fit. We're seeing more from him than we did at the start of the season and right now he's one of the few who has it in him to create. We're not getting enough from Paton or Barr. Neither is blessed with blistering pace. Neither are particularly good at beating their man and crossing the ball. Not that we've got a target to aim for in the box right now as we've got problems up front. I think Ryan Thompson is a big miss. He's not the best player but he grafts, can hold the ball until others get involved and will always try to close people down when not in possession. 

Up front? Dom Thomas isnt an out and out striker but he's carrying our biggest goal threat right now. Beanie is a useful guy to have but isnt going to bag double figures and he isnt fit right now. Gallagher blows hot and cold and can often look dangerous and dud in the same game. Rory Loy had a decent CV but never really showed anything for us before his injury and is nowhere near coming back.

The injuries havent helped. We can complain that for much of the first quarter of the season we struggled to field the same team and regularly had guys filling in at unfamiliar positions. We still can't fill a bench. That said, our best 11 on paper doesnt look particularly good. If everybody was fit and healthy then, barring any additions, our best starting 11 would probably be:

 

Smith

Dyer, C Barr, Dowie, Ballantyne in defence

Carswell, Forbes, Paton, Thomas and B Barr in midfield

Loy up front.

 

That 11 doesnt exactly fill me with confidence. There's a lack of pace, creativity and goal threat going forward and the defence isn't solid at all.

Edited by BallochSonsFan
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Re above I totally disagree about smith.from the first minute today he was very poor.

i know I’m repeating myself but you sign the 3rd choice keeper from the lowland league that’s the standard you get. 

Head on block time. I’d prefer grant Adam and I know he’s broke!!!!

surely there must be an under 20 Prem league squad keeper floating around somewhere??

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So, for those of us trying to piece together this absolute shambles we find ourselves in, what is wrong with our squad?

It's disjointed, yes. It's imbalanced from Aitken's dealing, yes. But why can't we perform no matter what starting eleven we field? Is it fitness? Is it direction? Is it application? Why, why, why?!
Aitken's strategy in the summer was poor. I always had my doubts about his approach and he signed far, far too many players who are nowhere near good enough amd/or with horrendous injury histories so he could chuck money at a few 'quality' signings. We also have the injury situation which hasn't helped, along with Dowie being completely past it and displaying zero leadership in a time where we need it most. We lack pace, we lack fight and we lack the required level of desire needed to win matches on a regular basis. Not only are the majority not good enough, they aren't 'run through a brick wall' types, which you need an element of at this level and somewhat negates any lack of ability.

Players not good enough:

Adam (also a crock)
McGowan
Dyer - I'd consider him the worst left back I've seen at Dumbarton, and I include Kenny Haswell in that. He also doesn't care.
Dowie
Perry (also a crock)
Allardice
B. Barr - one of the supposed 'quality' signings who's actually just a greeting faced wee shitebag with no quality whatsoever.
Paton


Players who are ok squad filler and backup:

Chris Smith
Brad Spencer
Calum Gallagher - he's had plenty of time in the starting 11, as a striker, to impress and has failed miserably
Iain Russell - should he have been signed to begin with? Absolutely not


Players good enough to be regular starters:

Ross Forbes - our best player.
Craig Barr (crock, unfortunately)
Stuart Carswell
Ryan Thomson - is he the best technically? no. Will he give you 100% from start to finish? yes. He balances out our shitebaggery and we need a few more of the same ilk.
Kyle Hutton - the most improved player under Duffy, and good enough to start paired with the right player IMO.
Cammy Ballantyne
Dom Thomas - he does really need to stop the 30 yard powder puff shots and trying to do everything himself though

Players who fall into none of the above:

Jack Aitchison - was too scared to play League 1 football and went crying back to Celtic. Another shitebag and the absolute opposite of what we need. We should receive an extra loan this season for wasting one on him
Rory Loy - when he was fit he didn't look very good but he SHOULD be a great player for this level. Hasn't been seen since god knows when and I'm not convinced he wants to be here. Punt asap.

Managers:

Stevie Aitken - a shambles of a tactician who genuinely believes he's one of Scotlan'd best up and coming managers. He was rightly punted and we will be counting the cost of his dreadful recruitment for some time.

Jim Duffy - hard to judge with this squad but I've found him a bit meh if I'm being honest. I think I've seen 2 interviews so far, both after the only 2 good games we've had under him. He just kinda sticks with the same team regardless of how shite we've been. Will judge him when he has his own team but I'd like to hear more from him post match at least.
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10 hours ago, DumbartonTheSons said:

So, for those of us trying to piece together this absolute shambles we find ourselves in, what is wrong with our squad?

It's disjointed, yes. It's imbalanced from Aitken's dealing, yes. But why can't we perform no matter what starting eleven we field? Is it fitness? Is it direction? Is it application? Why, why, why?!

Imo we have two absolutely massive issues. We don't have a goalscoring forward and, despite doing more attacking in most games, when we're put under pressure defensively we almost always concede. How many times do we feel like we've failed to win a game where the opposition have scored with their only serious chances?

We've also got a problem with the team not moving as a unit. Especially the midfield who sit on top of the defence, but offer pretty much nothing going forward, or who sit about ten yards ahead of the defence and invite players (Kyle Turner, Harry Paton) to get in between the lines. That's less of an issue than the big two though.

I suspect that a lack of confidence, a lack of belief and an outright lack of desire are the reasons we aren't seeing much at the moment. There are a few players who don't look like they want to be there, and with Duffy in the door a couple of months now I'd imagine most know if he fancies them or not. 

Starting at the back, Smith is fine. He had a nightmare yesterday, but he's better than Grant Adam (for my money the worst 'keeper I've seen at the Rock), and Jamie McGowan. The biggest advantage he has over those guys is communication. He's actually had very little to do in most games he's played, and that's because he organises those around him relatively well. Given we're going to have to wheeler dealer our way out of this he'll come cheap and do a job. If signing him allows us to punt Adam then that's even better news. 

Ballantyne is our best defender (until Mango returns), Dowie is struggling and when Mango is back I wouldn't be surprised to see him drop out, Carsy looks good at centre-back (and Hutton looks better in centre-mid without him) which gets us to Willie Dyer.  I thought he was a totally uninspiring but 'fine' League One signing. The sort of guy who'll get 6/10 every week, which would suit me.

Unfortunately he's been woeful. Absolutely woeful. His positioning is poor, he struggles to stop crosses and he doesn't win much in the air. Above all else though his distribution is amazingly bad. He makes James Creaney look like Marcelo. It's just a lump towards the edge of the penalty box every single time. Replacing him and getting Mango back in that defence will make a huge difference. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, if Boomer is still a free agent and fit, then we could do a lot worse. Him and Ballantyne down both wings would be a great option.

In centre-midfield Hutton and Spencer would be our best pairing imo. Hutton's upped things since Duffy came in, and Spencer's ability to go box-to-box and score a goal would compliment him nicely. Duffy clearly disagrees though, so we'll see what happens there. Allardice is technically not bad, but contributes very little. I'd punt him back to United. Forbes and Hutton doesn't have any mobility and I've got another plan for Ryan Thomson.

Out wide I'd start Forbes on the right. He terrorised Stenny out there for a lengthy period in the second half yesterday and is an outstanding crosser of the ball. Assuming we stick with a 4-4-2 it's a no-brainer to have him wide.

The other wing is more of an issue. Dom Thomas could be the man if we keep him, but I like him having a free role up top. Barr's crossing is really poor (thought he was decent enough yesterday though) and Paton is a good crosser, but doesn't have the pace to get into a position to cross. At the moment pick either one, I'm not really bothered.

Then we get to the big issue. Scoring. Calum Gallagher's really struggled since the Brechin game, and Ryan Thomson came on, smashed into folk and held the ball up. I think you can see where I'm going with this.

He's not the answer, but if we can't get another targetman in then he looks like the most natural option.

That leaves just the second striker. The key. The goalscorer.

Rory Loy should be that man, but with him having spent most of the season injured (and looking like a guy with no confidence when he is fit) I'm not quite sure where we stand there. Calum Gallagher isn't a goalscorer, and Beany doesn't look like he's still a goalscorer these days. 

I'd expect a few additions this month, though I'm not sure many will be proven. Duffy usually takes a few gambles in a window and, like I said, with Aitken having fired the budget at 16 players or whatever, he'll have to gamble unless he can move a few higher earners on.

On the management front Duffy has already shown that he isn't afraid to change it during the game. His subs more often than not lead to a change in formation of approach, and yesterday we really went for it at 2-1. Compare that to Aitken's like-for-like changes and playing for narrow defeats and he's in the good books with me. I can't say I agree with him on everything (I'd start Spencer, I'd have kept Forbes wide yesterday) but I like that he's prepared to mix things up.

Edited by Ross Forbes
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Can’t believe that people actually think Kyle Hutton has improved. Last week against Kyle Turner was probably the most I’ve ever seen a player get torn a new one. Turner flew by Hutton’s lazy tackle’s at will. I’d say replacing him with a box -box centre mid would make a bigger change to us than anything else.

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As much as I would be willing to drive Hutton to anywhere he wishes to go, the midfield is not the current priority when budget is tight and loan options restricted. Which says a lot given how woeful they’ve been as a unit.

Striker and left-back are absolutely top of the list for Duffy; followed swiftly by a left sided midfielder and goalkeeper if possible. In that order.

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20 minutes ago, RossBFaeDundee said:

Maybe you guys have stumbled on something good here... keep the Stenny away kits, stick on a Dumbarton badge, and watch the points come rolling in. What've you got to lose?

See when you don't know what kit to pack/wear v the opposition. You know yer in trouble.

Last week we wore our away kit at home v Stranraer, for no real discernible reason.

#HomeKitHasGoneAWOL

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See when you don't know what kit to pack/wear v the opposition. You know yer in trouble.
Last week we wore our away kit at home v Stranraer, for no real discernible reason.
#HomeKitHasGoneAWOL

We wore our away kit last week because for some inexplicable reason Stranraer turned up with their away kit which had black shorts. The referee said we couldn't wear our home kit so we did the decent thing and wore our away kit. Unlike stenny yesterday who forced us to wear their change kit instead of them wearing it
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10 minutes ago, Nowhereman said:


We wore our away kit last week because for some inexplicable reason Stranraer turned up with their away kit which had black shorts. The referee said we couldn't wear our home kit so we did the decent thing and wore our away kit. Unlike stenny yesterday who forced us to wear their change kit instead of them wearing it

Why would Stenhousemuir wear their away kit if they are at home? We wore our home kit away @ Stenhousemuir back in September. No problem

Absolutely embarrassing from us tbh.

#FindOurHomeKit

 

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Of course it was our fault. That doesn't change the fact that we did the decent thing the previous week and stenny didn't yesterday
I tend to agree. Although there is no guarantee Stenny had their away kit washed and ready, perhaps that's why we had to wear their old away kit. If they had the option of wearing the away kit and chose not to then that's a bit of a minter from them.

Maybe our kitman sabotaged his last game in charge as a tribute to his lord and saviour, Sir Stephen of Aitken. Long live Aitken's Army!

20181217_094635.jpg
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