superbigal Posted May 28, 2014 Share Posted May 28, 2014 Your boys are certainly trawling the scene. Both were at the Rec on Monday for St Andrews v Camelon. Mind Brechin were also represented. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOFOREVER Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 Everyone is after one of them,if deasley could show the form he had at the start of signing he could be our man he can stick the ball in the net.For me its the defence we have to sort out 56 goals conceded last year..... I agree with you as far as leaking goals is concerned but the problem isn't just the back four. If you don't score goals or even look like scoring the opposition just pile forward and the back four will give way. That was plain to see at the Berwick and Peterhead away games and at QP as well except they were so inept up front they didn't punish us. We have to be more dangerous up front to peg the opposition back and we also need to be more competitive in midfield where we should play a mix of those who can get up and support the attack and those who lie back a bit to protect the back four. We did neither last season. In defence I think you are right we do need to stengthen and we do need a right back. Having said that Jonny Crawford did well at RB in the last few games but another RB is necessary as we need LC at centre back unless we get another CB in. Left back I think Bell is maturing into that position at last now he's had a run in the team. He definitely has it in him and had a stormer of a game at Shire in the last game of the season. I know not many will agree with that and I had a ? over him but that game he had at Shire set a standard he needs to keep up . To summarise my thoughts the top priority is a centre forward bigger than 5' 8'' to play alongside Deasley and bring him more into the game. His finishing towards the end of the season was woeful so that has to improve. The other priorities are to get a midfield general who has been around the block a few times and either a right back or another centre half. Admittedly that's what everybody else is trying to do but I'm only bothered about the Mo and that's what we need to do if we are to avoid another struggle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOFOREVER Posted May 29, 2014 Share Posted May 29, 2014 What's this for? Getting players to come up to Angus is not easy and it's also hard to compete with the top HL teams these days so it's wise to check out the lower leagues/juniors where there must be some untapped talent who would jump at the chance of SPFL football. And before any posters come along with the crack that those HL teams will be replacing us soon - yes, they very well might but watch out, they might also replace some other big time charlie team who fall on hard times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdsmith15 Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Our best player for marshalling our defence and general shouting instructions didn't really get a game for us and is now plying his trade at Castle Greyskull. We already have Duguid, who is apparently, a right back. So we already have the players in place. But we need cover, and please not more 'versatile' midlfielders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivo den Bieman Posted May 30, 2014 Author Share Posted May 30, 2014 Getting players to come up to Angus is not easy This is a really tired and thin excuse. It's nonsense. Players (and the current manager) from Dundee happily travel to Peterhead. Players from Glasgow and the central belt have, until this summer, played for Elgin. Stranraer despite their remote location have a Glasgow based squad. Ditto Berwick who benefit from Edinburgh and Central belt based players. If there is a decent wage available, and the club have ambitions to progress, then players will come. The geographical excuse is a piece of nonsense- it has nothing to do with players not signing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African Sunset Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Our best player for marshalling our defence and general shouting instructions didn't really get a game for us and is now plying his trade at Castle Greyskull. We already have Duguid, who is apparently, a right back. So we already have the players in place. But we need cover, and please not more 'versatile' midlfielders. Not anymore we don't. He's been released and probably going to Cove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdsmith15 Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Ha.....not a week ago I was told he was signed up for next season. By someone inside the club. Oh well... our transfer policy really is a farce! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdsmith15 Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Duguid signs for Formartine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonLichtie Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 This is a really tired and thin excuse. It's nonsense. Players (and the current manager) from Dundee happily travel to Peterhead. Players from Glasgow and the central belt have, until this summer, played for Elgin. Stranraer despite their remote location have a Glasgow based squad. Ditto Berwick who benefit from Edinburgh and Central belt based players. If there is a decent wage available, and the club have ambitions to progress, then players will come. The geographical excuse is a piece of nonsense- it has nothing to do with players not signing. Have to say I disagree with you to an extent, although I do see where you're coming from. If you took two clubs, offering the same sort of wage and with the same sort of standards/ ambitions, and one of them trained twice a week 10 miles from your family home, and the other 60 miles, as well as the travel to home games every second Saturday, over the course of the season you'd be looking at thousands and thousands of miles of extra travel and hundreds of additional hours travelling. In this instance, unless there is a personal attachment to the club or members of the staff, there is only one option a player will ever choose. Where do Montrose do their training, is it actually in Montrose? With regards to Stranraer they train in Glasgow so for Glasgow based players there's no issue,with Berwick they train in Edinburgh so Edinburgh based players have no issue, and with Brechin they train in Stirling, which is frankly the perfect location, as they can draw on players from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee, as well as players based in Stirlingshire. Arbroath train in Dundee twice a week (it was one in Perth one in Dundee up last season but has changed) and I know of several players we lost out on last summer (one to Albion Rovers and one to Stirling amongst others) who we certainly didn't lose due to lack of financial offering or league. One of them went with Albion as he would have lost working hours in the time he would have spent travelling to training, and felt that he was better working more hours at his daytime job than spending that time travelling to train with us. If Montrose train in Perth or Stirling then the argument about travel for training is irrelevant, and unfortunately it is due to the years and years spent down the wrong end of the bottom division and lack of ambition/ finance at Montrose I’d expect. If you do train in Montrose, why would anyone from beyond Stirlingshire who has an offer from a team closer to home sign for the Mo? In recent years, there has even been a spate of players signing for teams in the east region juniors, as it means far less travelling for both training and matches, and allows them to spend more time working their day job or with their family. I would say however that a player will be far more encouraged to go that extra distance if the club they’re signing for are showing a lot of ambition and have a good reputation. Unfortunately for Montrose neither of these are the case. I think the Mo far best concentrating on signing the best they can from the Tayside/ fife juniors and mixing them with the SPFL experienced players they can get. Either that or make a drastic step of training in a far more central area. Maybe I'm wrong here, but it's an interesting discussion and good to hear someone else's views on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdsmith15 Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Montrose train in Montrose twice a week. I believe their ideal catchment is Fife to Aberdeen. They also won't pay travel expenses for further afield players. Also, as you say, years at the wrong end of the bottom division doesn't help. There is a lack of ambition and finances at the club with no obvious strategy to get out of this rut we have been in for years. Very frustrating for fans, which are not turning up to Links Park and putting us into a Catch 22 situation where no money through the gate, leads to no investment in the club. Urgh.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivo den Bieman Posted May 30, 2014 Author Share Posted May 30, 2014 edit- what's the point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonLichtie Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Montrose train in Montrose twice a week. I believe their ideal catchment is Fife to Aberdeen. They also won't pay travel expenses for further afield players. Also, as you say, years at the wrong end of the bottom division doesn't help. There is a lack of ambition and finances at the club with no obvious strategy to get out of this rut we have been in for years. Very frustrating tfor fans, which are not turning up to Links Park and putting us into a Catch 22 situation where no money through the gate, leads to no investment in the club. Urgh.... If you're not going to commit to expenses to players further afield than that, and are set on training in Montrose twice a week (which is understandable considering the investment in the playing surface) then I don't think the ambitions can be much above what I suggested? I'm not having a dig in the slightest, there are 20 + part time clubs in Scotland who're all in a similiarish boat, but I think the Mo have had less success than any of of the others since Ivo Den Bieman, and considering that I can't really have anything but respect for the poor b*****ds who're still there to support the club. edit- what's the point I'd be interested to see what you disagree agree with me on.... go in, indulge me . In all seriousness, as I said, I see what you're saying, I just feel there is far more too it, geography and 'real' jobs dictate far more to players at this level than you seem to think, in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivo den Bieman Posted May 31, 2014 Author Share Posted May 31, 2014 No it was something else althogether Simon- yours was a perfectly sensible post and I agreed with most of it. I was just a wee bitty gloomy about our prospects for next season, and was suggesting that "geographical location" was the least of our worries. Eye-catching new signings and a bit of ambition are needed to get us out of the rut we are in. Tweeder 4.0 need to get the finger out and actually sign some people who will bring folk through the gates, and make the "we're aiming for promotion this year" something more than an empty sentiment in the Dundee Courier. It'd be nice to have something to look forward to other than jostling with Elgin and Queen's Park for last place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE63 exile Posted May 31, 2014 Share Posted May 31, 2014 Some good points on the training and recruitment policies at the club. I always felt that Montrose laying the plastic pitch would mean the training would go back to Links Parks and might mean it would be a struggle to get players to commit to travel up there for training especially from Glasgow and Edinburgh. Gone are the days when you get highly committed players likes of David Larter travelling up from Edinburgh twice a week for years. I would agree that Aberdeen to Fife is a reasonable catchment area but if Montrose are not paying travelling expenses they might even struggle to get players from Fife to commit especially when there a number of decent junior clubs on the door step paying decent money without the hassle of having to trail all the way up to Montrose twice a week after slaving away at work all day. Players work commitments are a massive stumbling block these days. 8-4 or 9-5 jobs are few and far between now. I can understand why the player Simon's on about opted to join Albion Rovers if he's living in Glasgow and doesn't need to make the 200 mile round trip to Dundee twice a week. Child care plays a big part too. I know it's not ideal but club's likes of Montrose might need to go back to the old days when players trained near their local club and travelled up on a match day. It seemed rife in the 70s & 80's. Were there not a couple of lads travelling up Montrose from Inverclyde this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdsmith15 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 It's my understanding that Montrose do pay travel expenses but refuse to do so for further afield players. We had a player from Aberdeen that struggled with mixing his work commitments and training and that being only 40 miles away. When it comes to training and midweek games you have to have an understanding from your boss and real commitment from the players. Sticking hard and fast to this rule is stifling ambition at the club. Again though, who wants to play for a club that's played the vast majority at the wrong end of the bottom division, it's a tough sell. Given our managerial appointment, it is important to excite the fans with a great signing, as mentioned above, but that's not happening either just now. Yet, our club will wonder why season ticket sales are sluggish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brazilnut Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 Just out of interest Montrose fans, when was the last time your team played in a league above the bottom one? Grateful for a reply on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdsmith15 Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 Just out of interest Montrose fans, when was the last time your team played in a league above the bottom one? Grateful for a reply on this. According to The Journey So Far.... by Steve Doyle we played in Division 2 for the 1995/96 season. According to Wikipedia Division 3 was formed in 1994. Happy to be corrected by either way it is depressing reading. Any other more learned Mo Fans make the stats less depressing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivo den Bieman Posted June 1, 2014 Author Share Posted June 1, 2014 1995/96. We had a horrific season in the old division two under Andy Dornan and were relegated by a country mile. Successive 0-6 and 0-7 drubbings from East Fife that season IIRC. That has been our only season outside of Div 3 since it was formed. We flattered to deceive in the promotion stakes in 2001/2, 2004/5 and 2007/8, plus a near miss in 2008/9, otherwise it's been bottom-feeding stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brazilnut Posted June 1, 2014 Share Posted June 1, 2014 1995/96. We had a horrific season in the old division two under Andy Dornan and were relegated by a country mile. Successive 0-6 and 0-7 drubbings from East Fife that season IIRC. That has been our only season outside of Div 3 since it was formed. We flattered to deceive in the promotion stakes in 2001/2, 2004/5 and 2007/8, plus a near miss in 2008/9, otherwise it's been bottom-feeding stuff. Many thanks for this. I remember Montrose being quite successful in the 1980's and early 90's. In fact, if I remember correctly, you just pipped us for promotion in season 1990/91 in your last game of the season against Queen Of The South I think it was. We were promoted the following season 1991/92 but our season in the upper league was a disaster and we came straight back down. Anyway, all the best for next season and I hope you have some long awaited success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Posted June 3, 2014 Share Posted June 3, 2014 Scott Johnstone any good? We are apparently interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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