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I'd think Jim would want to know what his budget is before committing, personally I hope he stays as the turnaround in our form was excellent since January.
I'd be deighted if Jim stayed, it must have been a two year deal with break option this summer, that would fit. The board would want to put together an offer that would tempt him to stay, hence the delay in negotiations and Duffy keeping his options until he knows what is on offer.
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9 minutes ago, Ross Forbes said:

I can't tell you how tempted I was to drop a 'Patience is the Key' in there...

:lol:

You definitely should.

A small paragraph starting..."Patience is the key for Sons fans at the moment....."

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10 hours ago, albundy said:
10 hours ago, Silverton End said:
I'd think Jim would want to know what his budget is before committing, personally I hope he stays as the turnaround in our form was excellent since January.

I'd be deighted if Jim stayed, it must have been a two year deal with break option this summer, that would fit. The board would want to put together an offer that would tempt him to stay, hence the delay in negotiations and Duffy keeping his options until he knows what is on offer.

There are a always a variety of ways in which figures can be put together. That takes a little working out and to and fro, as anyone involved in doing these deals will tell you. (Good piece, Fraser. Thanks.)

Simon

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On 25/05/2019 at 10:20, The Moonster said:

People have lives mate. They don't actually have to give up any of their time at all, they could all stop tomorrow and our club would likely die. They give their time because they want the club to succeed, why would they deliberately be awkward in regards to discussing future plans?

Correct. It's slightly amazing that a few people seem to think that we would sit on our arses, not do a deal quickly if it could be done quickly, and withhold information that was shareable publicly. None of that has happened. On the contrary, everyone has been and is working very hard behind the scenes. (Sometimes people aren't available because they have paid work etc. to which they also have to attend. But, as with all small clubs, there are many people who freely give of time and money to keep things going. And we're not talking about rich people with nothing else to do here.)

Edited by TheFarPost
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47 minutes ago, TheFarPost said:

There are a always a variety of ways in which figures can be put together. That takes a little working out and to and fro, as anyone involved in doing these deals will tell you. (Good piece, Fraser. Thanks.)

Simon

Cheers Simon. Hopefully puts people's minds at rest that the DFC board haven't just been sat on the beach since May 4!

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On 25/05/2019 at 21:52, RGD89 said:

I don’t know if my club is in difficulty because they don’t tell us anything.... is my point.
 

 

As a number of people have pointed out on here, that's simply not true. The club tells you what it can and when it can. There have been two updates on the website. The vice chairman has made a couple of brief comments to the press.  As club press officer and a trust officer I come on here to say what can be said, and to explain what can't (because there are aspects of contracting and financing deals which have to be confidential, and because a running commentary just fuels more speculation among those who like to speculate or doom-monger.)

To reiterate, therefore: the club chairman and board have been quite clear about the situation. Things are very tight money-wise, and have been since relegation. We listened to fans and  reduced season ticket prices, but still took a big hit. There are no magic benefactors. There are capital costs which have to be managed. We had an unprecedented injury situation (no, that wasn't 'made up'). After a really difficult start we needed to change manager and bear the cost of that. As a result, the club and trust have worked hard to raise money and a few people have dipped into their pockets. Our sponsors have been very supportive. In the end we rescued the season and are now working hard to get things in place for next season, though no-one can or should pretend its easy.  All of that has been said before, but I'm happy to say it again. And no, I'm not going to go into great detail because that wouldn't be appropriate.  But describing that as "they don't tells us anything" is very unfair in my book. 

Meantime, a huge thanks to all those who've bought a brick, bought a season ticket, helped out and said a few encouraging words. We're really grateful and it makes a big difference!  Sons fans are ace (well, most of them! ;)

Best, Simon 

Edited by TheFarPost
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On 26/05/2019 at 14:03, lionel wickson said:

[W]here do people think the funding is coming from for re-signing players and "squad strengthening"? I have some difficulty in following the logic behind demanding a more competitive team and yet thinking the best way to achieve that is to starve the club of income before the season starts.

Absolutely. The reason we've invited people to renew season tickets early is that it puts money in at a time when it's most needed - and also we are looking to get more under-12s along (the fans of today and tomorrow) as we've explained.

Close season is always difficult because other regular income isn't coming in, but it's the very time when we need to set budgets, do deals, get kits, repair things, etc. 

We absolutely understand that some people save up and can't buy a ST early. Also that it's a personal choice. But those that can and do buy now are *really* helping - thank you!

If more people were buying now, we would be able to sort things more quickly. That's a simple fact. But many are choosing to wait, for whatever reason (as I said, their choice, and we respect that). So that means we have to fill the gaps from other sources, because things are tight. Manageable, but tight. 

So to the people who are saying, "why does this happen every season? Why can't they hurry up? I'm not paying until they do!" and so on, that's a big part of the reason, unfortunately. Moan, by all means (again, we do understand the frustrations)... but if we can stay positive and encourage support that's going to be far more helpful.

Later in the summer there will be a trust AGM and fans' meeting (it IS long overdue - sincere apologies: people have been helping out in a host of other ways, but we rely on a relatively small group of people, and it's been especially demanding in recent months). That will give us a chance to talk about where to go from here. 

Best wishes to all,

Simon

(OK, that's a spate of posts from me to try to provide some info and perspective - I'll leave you in peace now!)

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I might have picked this up wrong but are folk claiming that every season we take our time announcing signings etc?  From memory we usually tie up our players who are returning pretty sharp do we not?

The only real time in recent seasons I can remember being uneasy at signings was when the season was just underway and we could only name a couple players on the bench but apart from that I am struggling.

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I might have picked this up wrong but are folk claiming that every season we take our time announcing signings etc?  From memory we usually tie up our players who are returning pretty sharp do we not?
The only real time in recent seasons I can remember being uneasy at signings was when the season was just underway and we could only name a couple players on the bench but apart from that I am struggling.
Aye I'd agree with this.

The only season I can remember us struggling is when Aitken went on a 3 week jaunt to Florida (which I think was the same summer he was ganting for the Raith job) and we were left scrambling around for signings at the last minute. Even the summer that Murray left and we had to relace him we were quick with building a squad.
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7 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

Aye I'd agree with this.

The only season I can remember us struggling is when Aitken went on a 3 week jaunt to Florida (which I think was the same summer he was ganting for the Raith job) and we were left scrambling around for signings at the last minute. Even the summer that Murray left and we had to relace him we were quick with building a squad.

Had a quick look back through the website, and at this stage last year we only had Kyle Hutton and Andy Dowie signed up, plus had arranged three friendlies.

Now, granted, the season ended a lot later, but we're not hugely behind where we were. 

Not that that's any excuse not to hit us with a barrowload of exciting news, DFC ;)

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23 minutes ago, Ross Forbes said:

Had a quick look back through the website, and at this stage last year we only had Kyle Hutton and Andy Dowie signed up, plus had arranged three friendlies.

Now, granted, the season ended a lot later, but we're not hugely behind where we were. 

Not that that's any excuse not to hit us with a barrowload of exciting news, DFC ;)

I would have expected a bit of a delay last year due to going down, but the years before, weren't carswell, gallagher etc all not over the line pretty sharp?  Usually at least get a note of the players who have been offered deals alongside the players who are being released.

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I don't think there has ever been consistent rhythm of how and when to sign players in the close season.

Some clubs get their business done sharp others may take longer, does one way essentially have advantages over the other?

I seem to remember Airdrie doing business quite early on last close season and they ended up around the same place as us.

Personally I think we need to chill, be supportive of the club where we can and take a leap of faith that a hard working board of Dumbarton minded people are doing their best to make us competitive next season.

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2 minutes ago, Nowhereman said:

Two ex-Sons in the Scotland squad

Based on their time in a Sons shirt, Findlay showed the potential to go far. Brophy....well....didnt. 

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