Bring Back Paddy Flannery Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 49 minutes ago, O'Kelly Isley III said: How do you or I know that Joe McKee's deal had anything to do with his quality - it could have been the player's condition for signing on, no ? Ditto Buchanan, ditto Wylde, etc , And I've got to laugh at these fine nuances of positions and tactics; this was the Scottish First Division FFS, not La Liga - a decent midfielder should show something. How come Pignatelli could give us a shift in about five positions ? As I said, Farrell made many mistakes but he'll be getting blamed for the weather soon. I have to agree with Moonster here. As a Sons fan you will have witnessed first hand what a massive difference a manager’s tactics can make, and we weren’t in La Liga when that occurred. It wasn’t so long ago. Ian Murray completely transformed a squad of players who couldn’t buy a win. He didn’t overhaul the squad he just got the best out of what he had - something Stevie Farrell has failed miserably to do thus far and deserves criticised for. Piganatiello is a player with a skillset that means he can adapt to different positions, Joe McKee isn’t - but if you get Joe McKee doing what he’s good at he will be one of the best players in this league. That requires playing him in his strongest position. McKee and Wilson were both completely bombed out the starting 11 fairly early doors and were left working with a handful of minutes here and there to make an impact in a team who were badly toiling. The stats back this up: Wilson was available for all 36 league games, started 14 in total and only 8 of those were after the Peterhead pumping on the 2nd of October - 8 starts between October and May isn’t hellish much and he was generally only getting about 15/20 minutes from the bench when we were already beaten. McKee was available for 29 games and started 13, only 4 starts after Falkirk beat us 3-0 on the 13th of November - again 4 starts between November and May isn’t much and in 8 of the games in that time frame he didn’t even get off the bench. Farrell had no idea how to get a tune out of them or build their confidence back up, McKee in particlar barely played a single game in his natural position. It’s also hard to put together any sort of run of good form when you are working on scraps from the bench. “They didn’t deserve to start!” I hear your cry. Did Stuart Carswell? He was available for 31 games and started 29. Did Paul Paton? He was available for 27 games and started 20. I thought both them of were hopeless last season. Farrell stuck with the same duffers all season whilst our two best set piece takers and arguably our two most creative players collected skelfs on their farters. I sincerely hope Farrell is able to get the best out of these guys this year, play them in their strongest positions and deploy tactics that suit them. I also hope he doesn’t completely bomb them out of the team at the first dip in form, Wilson’s confidence looked absolutely shot in the end up and I expect the manager to be able to know how to get the best from his more naturally gifted and technical players. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
O'Kelly Isley III Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 7 minutes ago, The Moonster said: Again, if Farrell doesn't want to give someone a 2 year deal he doesn't have to. Joe McKee or any other player can ask for whatever they like, we don't have to give them it. Come on, OKI, are we really arguing that any midfielder should be able to play anywhere in midfield? Players need used to their strengths, George Stanger is a defender but using him at right back was problematic to the team, when he played in his preferred role he improved. The same applies to Joe McKee - why was Duffy able to get a tune out of him? I fully understand that McKee can be a lazy sod and barely looked interested last season, but I reiterate that it's the manager who signed him who needs to get the best of him. If he's asking him to carry out a role he's either uncapable of or unwilling to do then the manager needs to rectify that. Farrells choice was to drop him from the team and use him sparingly - that's fine but we didn't get results and were relegated. He's therefore rightly criticised for being unable to get the best of our best players. And I wouldn't blame him for the weather, that's the boards fault I think there are more folk than Stevie Farrell who have a job on this season to convince us of their continuing presence at DFC, and any player who is a 'lazy sod and looks disinterested' would be high up my list. We are where we are though, and it is to be hoped that if the football isn't stellar then at least the individual and collective attitude is at least decent. That goes for the team management AND the playing squad. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhoAmI Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 I read in one of the previous posts that Wallace is your only out and out striker. Just thought I would say that he did not play as an out and out striker but behind the main striker! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pleslie99 Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 3 hours ago, O'Kelly Isley III said: How do you or I know that Joe McKee's deal had anything to do with his quality - it could have been the player's condition for signing on, no ? Ditto Buchanan, ditto Wylde, etc , And I've got to laugh at these fine nuances of positions and tactics; this was the Scottish First Division FFS, not La Liga - a decent midfielder should show something. How come Pignatelli could give us a shift in about five positions ? As I said, Farrell made many mistakes but he'll be getting blamed for the weather soon. "A decent midfielder should give us something?" Carswell 'our captain' (and midfielder) stole a wage for the entire season. Gave nothing and still got played nearly every game And yet he still hangs about like a smell after a shite. For me he shouldve been 1st out the door at the end of last season. This season I would be giving Mckee and D. Wilson a go in midfield because regardless of what they do it will be better than what our centre midfield offered last year 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microdave Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 The stats back this up: Wilson was available for all 36 league games, started 14 in total and only 8 of those were after the Peterhead pumping on the 2nd of October - 8 starts between October and May isn’t hellish much and he was generally only getting about 15/20 minutes from the bench when we were already beaten. Earlier today I was curious about how much game time Wilson actually had last season so looked it up. He played in 43 out of 44 games but only averaged 40 minutes per game on the park. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FifeSons Posted June 16, 2022 Share Posted June 16, 2022 Fixtures out tomorrow morning. I can hardly sleep with the excitement. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Parr Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 9 hours ago, pleslie99 said: "A decent midfielder should give us something?" Carswell 'our captain' (and midfielder) stole a wage for the entire season. Gave nothing and still got played nearly every game And yet he still hangs about like a smell after a shite. For me he shouldve been 1st out the door at the end of last season. This season I would be giving Mckee and D. Wilson a go in midfield because regardless of what they do it will be better than what our centre midfield offered last year I agree with most of this but it's your last sentence that's doing a lot of heavy lifting, sadly. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Quitely Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 12 minutes ago, George Parr said: I agree with most of this but it's your last sentence that's doing a lot of heavy lifting, sadly. Yes, young Wilson especially seems to have become a minor obsession and I hope we're not heaping pressure on him. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
super-son Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 It's nice to look at the fixture list and not see any big names for a change. You'd be hoping to win most of those fixtures to be honest. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Parr Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 Quite neat that East Fife will be getting served up for the Big 150. Harks back to the last game at Bogheed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microdave Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 That was nice of the spfl to not only give us a home game for the 150th anniversary but also a guaranteed win. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the snudge Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 The away games during the worst of the winter aren't too bad either. Pretty pleased with that to be honest. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallochSonsFan Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 I'd have preferred Elgin in August rather than November. Fancied making a day of it and driving up. Pleased with East Fife on Christmas Eve. Hopefully it's an earlier kick off - maybe 1:45 instead of 3:00 and that we get a good travelling support down. Enjoy the game and get home in time for a relaxing late afternoon and evening on Christmas Eve. Would be great if the club planned something. Could get santa along with a selection box for the young fans and stick mulled wine and mince pies on in the bar. Doesnt need to be a big thing, but even something like that would help with a bit of Christmas spirit, particularly since it's the 150th game. It would be good if we could open the doors early, get the fans along early and do something to enjoy the day. Not keen on the walk up pricing. £5 for under 16s. Would much rather we offered free access for kids. Even if we made it free for under 14s, it would be a help. Would also have liked to see it cheaper for concessions. Maybe £7 for over 65s, 14-18 year olds and students? £15 for adults is absolutely fair enough and not significantly more than the division average, but I think we could have done more for young folk or older fans. Cost of living squeeze on everybody and we need to get serious about attracting younger fans as we're sleepwalking towards trouble if we can't get new folk along to games. And for older fans a Saturday afternoon at the game might be their only social event of the week and chance to catch up with friends. I think the future for the lower leagues has to be in keeping football as affordable and accessible as possible. Everybody should be able to go along to a game on a Saturday afternoon and be able to just enjoy an afternoon at the football. It shouldn't be prohibitively costly for folk. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nowhereman Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 52 minutes ago, BallochSonsFan said: I'd have preferred Elgin in August rather than November. Fancied making a day of it and driving up. Pleased with East Fife on Christmas Eve. Hopefully it's an earlier kick off - maybe 1:45 instead of 3:00 and that we get a good travelling support down. Enjoy the game and get home in time for a relaxing late afternoon and evening on Christmas Eve. Would be great if the club planned something. Could get santa along with a selection box for the young fans and stick mulled wine and mince pies on in the bar. Doesnt need to be a big thing, but even something like that would help with a bit of Christmas spirit, particularly since it's the 150th game. It would be good if we could open the doors early, get the fans along early and do something to enjoy the day. Not keen on the walk up pricing. £5 for under 16s. Would much rather we offered free access for kids. Even if we made it free for under 14s, it would be a help. Would also have liked to see it cheaper for concessions. Maybe £7 for over 65s, 14-18 year olds and students? £15 for adults is absolutely fair enough and not significantly more than the division average, but I think we could have done more for young folk or older fans. Cost of living squeeze on everybody and we need to get serious about attracting younger fans as we're sleepwalking towards trouble if we can't get new folk along to games. And for older fans a Saturday afternoon at the game might be their only social event of the week and chance to catch up with friends. I think the future for the lower leagues has to be in keeping football as affordable and accessible as possible. Everybody should be able to go along to a game on a Saturday afternoon and be able to just enjoy an afternoon at the football. It shouldn't be prohibitively costly for folk. We have a £20 season ticket for young fans, you think that is excessive? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FifeSons Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 (edited) First season in quite a while where there’s no exciting fixtures. I know some folk are weirdly into us playing diddies, but I much preferred the days when we were playing at Easter Road, Tynecastle and Tannadice. Edited June 17, 2022 by FifeSons 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
O'Kelly Isley III Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, microdave said: That was nice of the spfl to not only give us a home game for the 150th anniversary but also a guaranteed win. Just for the record, a home game on that date was requested of the SPFL by the 150th Steering Group Edited June 17, 2022 by O'Kelly Isley III 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallochSonsFan Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 (edited) 24 minutes ago, Nowhereman said: We have a £20 season ticket for young fans, you think that is excessive? I'd let under 14s in for free. I'd also argue that the £20 Young Sons deal is more about the cost of the associated benefits than access to the game. I'd also like the club to offer something to folk moving in to the housing that is being built. A year's season ticket for free. Falling short of that then at least half a dozen games a season of free entry. We have more pensioners than kids coming along to Dumbarton games. That has to change. If it doesnt then the sad fact is that as older fans stop attending and newer fans don't start coming then we're screwed. Edited June 17, 2022 by BallochSonsFan 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nowhereman Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 4 minutes ago, BallochSonsFan said: I'd let under 14s in for free. I'd also argue that the £20 Young Sons deal is more about the cost of the associated benefits than access to the game. I'd also like the club to offer something to folk moving in to the housing that is being built. A year's season ticket for free. Falling short of that then at least half a dozen games a season of free entry. We have more pensioners than kids coming along to Dumbarton games. That has to change. If it doesnt then the sad fact is that as older fans stop attending and newer fans don't start coming then we're screwed. Your last sentence applies to virtually all football other than the moneyed few these days 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallochSonsFan Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 1 minute ago, Nowhereman said: Your last sentence applies to virtually all football other than the moneyed few these days It does. It's a massive issue for Scottish football and one I'm not convinced the game is really taking seriously enough. I'd hope that we do. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
super-son Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 30 minutes ago, BallochSonsFan said: e have more pensioners than kids coming along to Dumbarton games. That has to change. If it doesnt then the sad fact is that as older fans stop attending and newer fans don't start coming then we're screwed. I don't actually think it's as simple as that. I reckon we get more new fans in the 30s-40s age bracket than people realise. Alot of people that age get bored of the old firm or can't afford season tickets there, and start joining their mates at lower league football clubs such as ourselves. Between them and young kids coming along, they make up for any pensioners falling away. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.