Sons' sorrow

[SLClyde]

14 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

In short, we are gifting 1 or 2 goals to our opponents on a weekly basis and our manager has no idea how to rectify it. 

After the 3-0 opening day win I thought you could’ve had a good go as well. Top 4 will pull away anyway, a free for all between the rest. 

[O'Kelly Isley III]

1 hour ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

Of course the ownership situation isn’t ideal but I’m not sure it directly impacts how Stevie Farrell has gone about his business. Given the two year deals handed out and the number of players who I’d guess will be on a decent enough wedge for this level (Carswell, Buchanan, Paton, McGeever, McKee, Orsi, MacLean etc) is fair to say he was fairly well backed in the summer with a decent budget. It certainly doesn’t impact on his starting 11, how he is coaching the players or hia tactics. 

I’m not saying we should be ignoring what is a very serious off the field situation but I’m loathed to use it as excuse when assessing how the manager is performing. If we were still trawling through the bargain bucket (like Jim Duffy chose to do) then I’d be more inclined to cut Farrell some slack.

Stevie Farrell can answer for himself but let's imagine a scenario in which a club ownership fails to deliver on prior commitments and guarantees, and does so on a regular basis.  That can make life difficult for those people who manage the club's day to day activities, including budgeting and team building and all manner of things.  And it doesn't help if for whatever reason sponsors, say shirt and stadium for argument's sake, don't actually deliver any money.

As I say, all in the imagination.  But the resignations of a Chairman, Company Secretary and two Associate Directors certainly were not.

[Thommo90]

Its became a right chore watching Dumbarton in the last few years.  Boyle, Buchanan and paton the standout 3 for all the wrong reasons.  Hopeless.

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

1 hour ago, O'Kelly Isley III said:

Stevie Farrell can answer for himself but let's imagine a scenario in which a club ownership fails to deliver on prior commitments and guarantees, and does so on a regular basis.  That can make life difficult for those people who manage the club's day to day activities, including budgeting and team building and all manner of things.  And it doesn't help if for whatever reason sponsors, say shirt and stadium for argument's sake, don't actually deliver any money.

As I say, all in the imagination.  But the resignations of a Chairman, Company Secretary and two Associate Directors certainly were not.

Would you not agree that Farrell was fairly well backed in the summer? He built a squad that all of us were happy with, including securing a number of those signings on two year deals. That is something we rarely ever done even in the Championship, when we also operated under shite owners, who contributed f**k all.

The situation off the park is dire but Farrell has been operating with a decent budget, has a decent sized squad and the owners have zero impact on guys like Paddy Boyle and Gregor Buchanan gifting the opposition 2 goals a game. The future may be bleak but I don’t think the current situation has had any impact on Stevie Farrell and his squad whatsoever, unless we, as Dumbarton fans, are looking for someone to actively invest money in the playing squad.

Lets not allow the serious ownership issues to disappear but lets not make excuses for an underperforming manager and players. They deserve every single bit of criticism they are getting, even if it does feel natural to blame the owners. 

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

On another note, am I the only one that doesn’t really get the hate for Paul Paton? Buchanan and Boyle are absolutely fucking hopeless, but Paton has turned in some good performances for us.

[Jan Vojáček]

6 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

On another note, am I the only one that doesn’t really get the hate for Paul Paton? Buchanan and Boyle are absolutely fucking hopeless, but Paton has turned in some good performances for us.

Aye I think Paton's been alright. He's had some stinking games, but he's also been our best player on a couple of occasions.

My biggest gripe with him is the fact he seems to play three matches and then be out for a month. I'd probably start him and Carlo together in my first choice central midfield tbh. Not that competition for places is especially fierce there.

[FifeSons]

I think if we lose next week, Farrell is in sacking territory. Not that I can see the board having enough interest in the club to bother contemplating a decision like that.

I wouldn't be calling for him to go, but don't think he could have too many complaints.

Edited December 12, 2021 by FifeSons

[the snudge]

We just don't have the players with enough quality or intelligence. Not one of them, Wilson aside, drives at the opposition, even then he doesn't do it often enough. We don't press as a unit we don't look cohesive at the back. That all comes from the coaching. 

We have players who have lost their pace and don't have the game intelligence to compensate. Remember Fraser Wright? His legs had gone but he could read the game. Now we have Buchanan who hauls and grabs at the opposition and Geggan who kicks his way through a game. Paddy Boyle is a hopeless case. Nothing about his game fills me with confidence. 

Off the field we are all but dead I feel. Its looking bleak unless we have some sort of local sons fan benefactor that whisks us away from the brabco mark2

[BallochSonsFan]

10 hours ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

On another note, am I the only one that doesn’t really get the hate for Paul Paton? Buchanan and Boyle are absolutely fucking hopeless, but Paton has turned in some good performances for us.

Paton is a bit like Kyle Hutton. Works hard. Rarely lets the side down. But he doesnt do anything going forward so fans don't rate what he brings to the team. He's a reliable defensive midfielder.Our biggest problem is that we don't have a reliable creative midfielder to play beside him. If McKee was in better form then a midfield 3 of Paton, Carlo and McKee wouldn't be a bad idea at all.

[BallochSonsFan]

10 hours ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

Would you not agree that Farrell was fairly well backed in the summer? He built a squad that all of us were happy with, including securing a number of those signings on two year deals. That is something we rarely ever done even in the Championship, when we also operated under shite owners, who contributed f**k all.

The situation off the park is dire but Farrell has been operating with a decent budget, has a decent sized squad and the owners have zero impact on guys like Paddy Boyle and Gregor Buchanan gifting the opposition 2 goals a game. The future may be bleak but I don’t think the current situation has had any impact on Stevie Farrell and his squad whatsoever, unless we, as Dumbarton fans, are looking for someone to actively invest money in the playing squad.

Lets not allow the serious ownership issues to disappear but lets not make excuses for an underperforming manager and players. They deserve every single bit of criticism they are getting, even if it does feel natural to blame the owners. 

 

We've got some decent players. I really like Kalvin Orsi. He's not a guy to lead the line and get lots of goals, but he'll graft and his running causes problems. Wilson is raw but we've seen some great things from him. McKee seems to have become shite overnight and players don't usually  do that. He's got far more in him and we need to see those improved performances. McLean was playing well for a while but also seems to have lost a bit of confidence and consistency. Getting those guys playing better would be huge for us.

Serious questions about Boyle and Geggan. They're just too old and no longer anywhere near this level of football. For whatever reason Buchanan also looks poorer than we've seen him and McGeever was making mistakes before his injury. Does it come down to the manager just not getting the best from a squad that really should be doing better? Or are there guys in there who are declining and who are no longer of the quality we need them to be? I also don't think Stokes has taken the opportunity afforded to him with his recent starts. He isnt convincing me that he's deserving of the chance he's been given. Great sub appearances havent translated to effective starts.

I'd give Faz the season. We were doing pretty well earlier this season and if players don't become shite overnight then neither do managers. Needs to do better though. I'm not sure that we've really got a proper first choice 11? How does he turn things around with this group of players? Does a new manager come in and get  improved performances? 

Edited December 12, 2021 by BallochSonsFan

[pleslie99]

We were all pretty happy at the signings at the start of the season. We were all pretty happy with the appointment of Faz at the start of the season. A few months on and we've signed duds and the manager is tactically inept. We started strongly and have fell away, that's not our manager becoming a tactical clown or the players becoming shit overnight!

Yes the players should be doing more and the manager should be getting more out of them. Maybe there is a huge disconnect between board/owners and the manager leaving him fed up and disillusioned. Would getting rid of him sort the problem? Probably not, we've been here before with Duffy, Aitken and now Faz. We are going to continue on this Merry go round until 1 of two things happen. We get an owner In that actually wants to own a football team or we go into football oblivion.

[1870ToonBlue]

18 hours ago, DobbiesAgent said:

Geggan. Jobber of a hard man who’s out his depth

Boyle. Never good enough. Arrogance beyond belief and he’s defending is terrible. 
 

Paton. Ended up not being our worst player today but he doesn’t help matters in midfield. He offers nothing and is absolutely shite. 
 

Faz tactics are non existent. Just as well we start games with nothing cause if we could defeat ourselves I’m pretty sure we would. 
 

sury our board must be looking at Montrose as a prime example of what can be done with a bit of patience and making the right appointment. Montrose plan was clear today. Play out from the back and press high. A team filled with hard working young players who had a bit about them and a few experienced heads to keep them in check. They never panicked going 1-0 down and stuck with their approach something we can’t do. 
 

when we went 1-0 up it reminded me of Stevie aitken times unfortunately. “We are ahead so let’s just defend this”. Concede and then panic and resort to long balls 

 

Change is imminent hopefully. Otherwise we are fucked 

Felt like this at Stair Park but we kept going with him and ended up in League 2 was happy to see him leave. 
i can remember saying this and a few of the Dumbarton fans slating me as they felt he would do a job for yous. How wrong the guy is tactically inept, yous will be down by May if there is no change. Or he will spend spend spend in January money thats prob not there

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

1 hour ago, pleslie99 said:

We were all pretty happy at the signings at the start of the season. We were all pretty happy with the appointment of Faz at the start of the season. A few months on and we've signed duds and the manager is tactically inept. We started strongly and have fell away, that's not our manager becoming a tactical clown or the players becoming shit overnight!

Yes the players should be doing more and the manager should be getting more out of them. Maybe there is a huge disconnect between board/owners and the manager leaving him fed up and disillusioned. Would getting rid of him sort the problem? Probably not, we've been here before with Duffy, Aitken and now Faz. We are going to continue on this Merry go round until 1 of two things happen. We get an owner In that actually wants to own a football team or we go into football oblivion.

Away ye go. Are you genuinely suggesting that unless we have new owners every manager we appoint will be shite? Aitken had some successful seasons with us, but clearly things went stale. Duffy done fine until he culled all the decent players and started signing exit trial duds. Managers come and go, they have good spells and bad spells, it’s the same at most clubs, it’s a natural cycle and I certainly wouldn’t consider us a “merry-go-round” type of club. Since when has the relationship between the board and the manager been an issue? I’ve certainly never heard of any issues. The owners may be shite, they may not invest, they may not provide funds for stadium upgrades which probably does impact the budget but they don’t meddle in on the park affairs. Let not make excuses for an underperforming manager and players. Faz was clearly happy to come in and work with the budget he was given and the suggestion from him and some of his players was that we were aiming to challenge for a playoff spot. 

Regarding the manager - I think most fans were happy to have a guy in who seems like he cares and displays a bit of passion. He is also good at selling the club to players. Anyone with any sense would’ve been looking at his CV (which in all honesty is pretty terrible) and being realistic about how good a manager he actually is but I think most were hopeful he’d do well and he was saying the right things. Fair enough. 

Regarding the players I’d say the majority were happy with the following: Geggan, McGeever, Buchanan, Pignatiello, Paton, McKee, Orsi and MacLean. The following received a mixed reaction/no one knew anything about them: Muir, Carswell, Maley, Stokes, Wilson, Duthie, Schiavone and Hopkirk. I’d say most fans were unconvinced/unhappy with the following: Lynch, McKnight (he’s a child), Erskine, O’Neil, Ramsbottom, Boyle, Lamont and Syvertsen. I’d say that’s a mixed bag, and there are some players in there who should be doing far, far better than they are and some who simply aren’t good enough. It’s up to the manager to get the best out of them, which he isn’t. 

 

[Frank Quitely]

As a general question, who on the Dumbarton Board is responsible for football matters?  It seems to me that there is hardly anyone on it who has knowledge of the game?

[Nowhereman]

As a general question, who on the Dumbarton Board is responsible for football matters?  It seems to me that there is hardly anyone on it who has knowledge of the game?

It seems to me that there is hardly anyone on it.

[The Moonster]

5 hours ago, Frank Quitely said:

As a general question, who on the Dumbarton Board is responsible for football matters?  It seems to me that there is hardly anyone on it who has knowledge of the game?

Henning Kristoffersen has a global contact list available. 

[Turnberry Fields Forever]

2 hours ago, The Moonster said:

Henning Kristoffersen has a global contact list available. 

I heard he was there yesterday, did anyone meet him ?

[Nowhereman]

I heard he was there yesterday, did anyone meet him ?

Yes, very briefly although he was gone before I realised who it was

[FifeSons]

[Turnberry Fields Forever]

14 hours ago, Nowhereman said:

Yes, very briefly although he was gone before I realised who it was

Thanks.  Did he look like a leader of men ?