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5 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

 

I can't say I'm oozing confidence over the next few weeks after Saturday's performance either, but I'm willing to see how it goes. I still think Aitken isn't sure what his best team is, obviously injuries have had an effect on who he can field, but we see a different midfield and forward line every week. If he can get a settled team over these next few weeks and we see improvement in performance and results then should Aitken, 100%, be sacked?

If he turns things around and proves me wrong, I’ll be the first to admit it. I really hope he does. I’m coming up for the Raith game, and will be right behind the team and manager. Any negativity from me is reserved for pie and bovril, never from the stands. I’ve never booed one of our players or managers, never will.

Had we lost to Montrose, would you have decided his time was up? My point really is that one game shouldn’t sway a decision either way.

 

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I can't say I'm oozing confidence over the next few weeks after Saturday's performance either, but I'm willing to see how it goes. I still think Aitken isn't sure what his best team is, obviously injuries have had an effect on who he can field, but we see a different midfield and forward line every week. If he can get a settled team over these next few weeks and we see improvement in performance and results then should Aitken, 100%, be sacked?
If he can pick up 6 or 7 points with improved performances from the next 4 games then no. I wouldn't consider him safe until the end of his contract but it would at least buy him more time to try and put things right.

I'd agree regarding knowing his best 11, something I feel he's been guilty of in previous seasons as well, particularly last season and I think it's something he really needs to figure out. A settled squad with our best 11 would go a long way to helping us put a run of results together.

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SA is an odd manager in terms of performances AND results.He seems to get us playing well for a spell and then we descend into shite.That suggests he knows the game but cant sustain it for much time.How low we stooped at Bonnyrigg only then to bounce back with some decent performances AND results.2016/7 saw us play some great stuff as well as some utter shite.Its boom or bust with him and latterly , well we have been the latter.We won on Sat but the performance from what ive heard on here wasnt that great until the last 20 mins.(again bust /boom).

Its frustrating and in my opinion not that enjoyable.If i had to vote i would vote to replace him now.

 

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2 hours ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

If he can pick up 6 or 7 points with improved performances from the next 4 games then no. I wouldn't consider him safe until the end of his contract but it would at least buy him more time to try and put things right.

I'd agree regarding knowing his best 11, something I feel he's been guilty of in previous seasons as well, particularly last season and I think it's something he really needs to figure out. A settled squad with our best 11 would go a long way to helping us put a run of results together.
 

I was actually looking into this yesterday. We've yet to name an unchanged eleven this season and over the last two calendar years we've done it 10 times (2017) and 8 times (2016). That's 18 times in about 100 games.

Granted he's had a rough time with injury and all, but I bet that Arbroath (for example) have named the same starting lineup in consecutive weeks on considerably more occasions. At the moment we only have three players (Adam, Dyer and Dowie) who have started every game. Over the next month or so I'm hoping to see a more settled lineup.

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For me, no. If he can turn it around I'd happily hold my hands up and say I was wrong about wanting him booted. The problem he has now is that he needs to turn it around quickly and we have a tough run of fixtures coming up (Airdrie away, Raith at home, Stranraer away and Arbroath at home). If he can pick up at least 2 wins and a draw from those 4 I'd say he deserves more time, especially if we're seeing a major improvement in desire and performance levels from the players. The Abroath game will be 1 game into the 2nd quarter and I feel that would be a fair time for the board to make an assessment.

I wouldn't say I'm confident in us picking up 7 points from those 4 games based on what I've seen so far but I'd be delighted to be proven wrong.


I agree with you. It can be turned round. But it'll take for me, as you offer, at least two wins from the next four (and for me, a maximum of one of the other two being a defeat) to buy more time.

Anything less and for me its decision time for the board and there's a certain decision they'd need to make.
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I've always felt Aitken was at his best when we are underdogs. His ability to set out to frustrate other teams and hit with a sucker punch worked against Dundee utd, Hibs, St Mirren, etc.

 

Where is have had an issue in the past is he didn't seem to have the ability to take the game to teams when we are the favourites, e.g. Bonnyrigg, East Fife, Queen's park, etc, which has been backed up by our form in league one.

 

Four separate things have put him beyond redemption IMO,

 

1. Bonnyrigg, need I say more

2. The cup final, to play like we just need a point. Inexcusable

3. The playoffs v Alloa. We shat the bed and put in the most negative display imaginable

4. The promise of entertaining football, bold statement made pre season. Hasn't shown anything tangible to back it up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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17 hours ago, albundy said:

I've always felt Aitken was at his best when we are underdogs. His ability to set out to frustrate other teams and hit with a sucker punch worked against Dundee utd, Hibs, St Mirren, etc.

 

Where is have had an issue in the past is he didn't seem to have the ability to take the game to teams when we are the favourites, e.g. Bonnyrigg, East Fife, Queen's park, etc, which has been backed up by our form in league one.

 

Four separate things have put him beyond redemption IMO,

 

1. Bonnyrigg, need I say more

2. The cup final, to play like we just need a point. Inexcusable

3. The playoffs v Alloa. We shat the bed and put in the most negative display imaginable

4. The promise of entertaining football, bold statement made pre season. Hasn't shown anything tangible to back it up.

 

It's 3 that does it for me.

The cup final is a tricky one, we were up against a full time team who, as it turned out, were at the start of a very good run of form and it wasn't an entirely unreasonable tactic to sit in. Bonnyrigg is a distant bad dream and I can't comment on 4 as I haven't seen any football this term.

To the interest of no-one i ranked all the managers who've been at the helm since I started following Dumbarton; on a sliding scale of Good Guys to Piss-Kidneys. Stevie remains a Good Guy, even though I think his time is up.

Good Guys

1. Ian Murray

2. Brian Fairley

3. Murdo MacLeod

4.  Jim Chapman

5. Stevie Aitken

6. Alan Adamson

7. Tam Carson

 

Piss-Kidneys

8. Jimmy Brown

9. David Winnie

10. Ian Wallace

11. Gerry McCabe

12. Jim Fallon

13. Paul Martin

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53 minutes ago, Consolidate said:

It's 3 that does it for me.

The cup final is a tricky one, we were up against a full time team who, as it turned out, were at the start of a very good run of form and it wasn't an entirely unreasonable tactic to sit in. Bonnyrigg is a distant bad dream and I can't comment on 4 as I haven't seen any football this term.

To the interest of no-one i ranked all the managers who've been at the helm since I started following Dumbarton; on a sliding scale of Good Guys to Piss-Kidneys. Stevie remains a Good Guy, even though I think his time is up.

Good Guys

1. Ian Murray

2. Brian Fairley

3. Murdo MacLeod

4.  Jim Chapman

5. Stevie Aitken

6. Alan Adamson

7. Tam Carson

 

Piss-Kidneys

8. Jimmy Brown

9. David Winnie

10. Ian Wallace

11. Gerry McCabe

12. Jim Fallon

13. Paul Martin

Brian Fairley is a bold one for the good guys IMO. I'm sure he's lovely guy but he jumped ship to Forfar when he was losing a grip of our team after 1 good season IIRC.

David Winnie was also a tremendous scout, have a wee look at the players he brought to the club and it's a fairly excellent list, he just didn't know how to manage unfortunately.

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11 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

Brian Fairley is a bold one for the good guys IMO. I'm sure he's lovely guy but he jumped ship to Forfar when he was losing a grip of our team after 1 good season IIRC.

David Winnie was also a tremendous scout, have a wee look at the players he brought to the club and it's a fairly excellent list, he just didn't know how to manage unfortunately.

I marked it purely on my own personal enjoyment of their 'reign'. The end of season run-in when Brian beat the drop was Fairley brilliant.  But I'll accept his departure was more than a little grubby.

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1 hour ago, The Moonster said:

Brian Fairley is a bold one for the good guys IMO. I'm sure he's lovely guy but he jumped ship to Forfar when he was losing a grip of our team after 1 good season IIRC.

David Winnie was also a tremendous scout, have a wee look at the players he brought to the club and it's a fairly excellent list, he just didn't know how to manage unfortunately.

Brian Fairley is the best manager we've had at the Rock IMHO. He took over Winnie's mess and saved us from what looked like inevitable relegation with 7 games to go. The following season he took us to third place in the second division (League One) with a points total of 60 and a positive goal difference of 15.  Because there were no play offs we didn't proceed from there. We averaged 1040 home crowd that season. I don't blame him for leaving. The home support soon forgot his contribution and wanted him sacked by September. He went to Forfar because they gave him conditions that Dumbarton wouldn't match. What would you do?

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If Beanie had been a few inches taller at Perth I really do think Sons would have bagged a couple in the first half.  The disappointing thing is that he was the one expected to get on the end of the crosses.

Anyway, that is history. Forward and focus on Saturday.

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4 hours ago, Howlin' Wilf said:

Brian Fairley is the best manager we've had at the Rock IMHO. He took over Winnie's mess and saved us from what looked like inevitable relegation with 7 games to go. The following season he took us to third place in the second division (League One) with a points total of 60 and a positive goal difference of 15.  Because there were no play offs we didn't proceed from there. We averaged 1040 home crowd that season. I don't blame him for leaving. The home support soon forgot his contribution and wanted him sacked by September. He went to Forfar because they gave him conditions that Dumbarton wouldn't match. What would you do?

The squad he took over from Winnie wasn't a mess, it was a squad of decent to good players for this level. He obviously did well to save us as Winnie had the team in a rut and were disorganised, and the following season he almost did the unthinkable, but I still felt leaving us for Forfar as soon as the going got tough was poor form. If I remember rightly he jumped from Forfar too when things started going wrong. Fairley is quoted himself on our Sons24 articles that he felt "things weren't working for him" despite feeling that he could've turned it around, he still left for Forfar.  Fairley did a good job for a season for us, I just don't think it puts him up there as the best.

Ian Murray is the best gaffer we've had at the Rock, and I concede the way he left was poor form as well.

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Here's a selection of comments about Fairley from the Yahoo Group in Oct 2004. !4 years ago, only the names have changed.

"So what are the reasons behind the manager's team selection? Has he
forked out club money to bring in players and now feels he has to use
the men who cost him the most dosh? Is he over-confident? Or is he a
bad manager? "

"On paper we have decent players that can do a job, of our back four we
have two players of the year, a experienced defender with exposure at
higher levels and a guy with a number of Scotland youth caps.

Our midfield (exc the 'onalds) largely consists of ex/current players
on premier sides books and the infamous bookends who have been choosen
by the last four managers.

Up front a known goal scorer and two players groomed at a higher level.

Managers don't always get things right, but this is the BF's team and
on paper I expect to be challenging.

The question I believe is if the board believes enough in Fairley to
turn it round. "

"Its fairly obvious to say that we are missing Neil Collins badly.

Best squad of players at DFC for years and we look as if we dont know what
we are doing.

No point singling out players for abuse as we all have our own opinions on
this but we are all very disappointed in DFC at the moment "

"As a Club we have to decide whether we want to be the 'best run' outfit in
Division Two or Three, or a Club with a little of ambition, risk allied (no
pun) to good housekeeping sustaining life in a Division One.

Sorry guys, but Brechin City trips used to be a fund day with three points
at the end of it. Are we ambitious or not?

What is the solution? Easy. Get some football people in the boardroom who
are not content with their lot. "

 

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52 minutes ago, Howlin' Wilf said:

Here's a selection of comments about Fairley from the Yahoo Group in Oct 2004. !4 years ago, only the names have changed.

"So what are the reasons behind the manager's team selection? Has he
forked out club money to bring in players and now feels he has to use
the men who cost him the most dosh? Is he over-confident? Or is he a
bad manager? "

"On paper we have decent players that can do a job, of our back four we
have two players of the year, a experienced defender with exposure at
higher levels and a guy with a number of Scotland youth caps.

Our midfield (exc the 'onalds) largely consists of ex/current players
on premier sides books and the infamous bookends who have been choosen
by the last four managers.

Up front a known goal scorer and two players groomed at a higher level.

Managers don't always get things right, but this is the BF's team and
on paper I expect to be challenging.

The question I believe is if the board believes enough in Fairley to
turn it round. "

"Its fairly obvious to say that we are missing Neil Collins badly.

Best squad of players at DFC for years and we look as if we dont know what
we are doing.

No point singling out players for abuse as we all have our own opinions on
this but we are all very disappointed in DFC at the moment "

"As a Club we have to decide whether we want to be the 'best run' outfit in
Division Two or Three, or a Club with a little of ambition, risk allied (no
pun) to good housekeeping sustaining life in a Division One.

Sorry guys, but Brechin City trips used to be a fund day with three points
at the end of it. Are we ambitious or not?

What is the solution? Easy. Get some football people in the boardroom who
are not content with their lot. "

 

Eh?

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