Berwick Rangers 2018/2019 Thread

[HibeeJibee]

46 minutes ago, Blue Oktober said:

Critically though  in both seasons Cowdenbeath  made managerial changes  resulting in improved morale, belief & organisation translating in far better performances on the pitch becoming hard to beat. Even with that both finals were squeaky bum time and could have gone either way on both occasions.

On the other hand Berwick have stuck to plan A hence why I worry for them the definition of insanity is to continue to do the same things in the same way and expect  and expect a different outcome. IMO if they are to stay up there is one thing they need to do and ASAP

Tbf, none of the playoff finals have been anything but tight.

Montrose were going out of the league to Brora until Marvin Andrews intervened with under 15mins left. East Stirlingshire lost to Edinburgh City via a penalty 3mins from time.

Cowdenbeath v EK went all the way to penalties. Cowdenbeath beat Cove with the odd goal in 5 although some outrageous refereeing decisions played their part.


If there is any reliance on that - "anything can happen" - it is tempered by realising Edinburgh City spanked Cove, and Cove spanked Spartans, in previous SFs. It can be over before 2nd leg.

[Cowden Cowboy]

Tbf, none of the playoff finals have been anything but tight.

Montrose were going out of the league to Brora until Marvin Andrews intervened with under 15mins left. East Stirlingshire lost to Edinburgh City via a penalty 3mins from time.

Cowdenbeath v EK went all the way to penalties. Cowdenbeath beat Cove with the odd goal in 5 although some outrageous refereeing decisions played their part.


If there is any reliance on that - "anything can happen" - it is tempered by realising Edinburgh City spanked Cove, and Cove spanked Spartans, in previous SFs. It can be over before 2nd leg.

Don't remember these some outrageous refereeing decisions - Cowden's penalty was a stick on. Yes Megginson might have been offside for one of his goals. However the only controversial decision was the play on for Cowden's winner which actually saw Sheerin impeded deliberately by the keeper before clashing with him in the hotly debated incident.

[cowdenbeath]

11 minutes ago, HibeeJibee said:

Tbf, none of the playoff finals have been anything but tight.

Montrose were going out of the league to Brora until Marvin Andrews intervened with under 15mins left. East Stirlingshire lost to Edinburgh City via a penalty 3mins from time.

Cowdenbeath v EK went all the way to penalties. Cowdenbeath beat Cove with the odd goal in 5 although some outrageous refereeing decisions played their part.


If there is any reliance on that - "anything can happen" - it is tempered by realising Edinburgh City spanked Cove, and Cove spanked Spartans, in previous SFs. It can be over before 2nd leg.

Nothing wrong with the ref that day As a fanboy of the play off in previous years you must be delighted to see it happening on your doorstep.

Edited April 21, 2019 by cowdenbeath

[HibeeJibee]

21 hours ago, DutchBorderer said:

 

20 hours ago, Todd_is_God said:

Yes 

There are 2 further levels under LL in our part of the country - new EOSL Premier Division under LL, and EOSL First Division of conferences under that.

Even if the worst happens it'd take a remarkable collapse to ever be facing LL relegation.

More sobering is the fact that in 2 different cups - the South Challenge Cup and EOS Qualifying Cup - we could draw the likes of Eyemouth or Tweedmouth next season, if relegated to LL .

[HibeeJibee]

20 minutes ago, cowdenbeath said:

As a fanboy of the play off in previous years you must be delighted to see it happening on your doorstep.

I'm clearly not "delighted" to be facing them but if we end-up in them I've got no complaints. As I observed a few days ago: in any other level finishing bottom would mean going straight down, so having an opportunity to rescue the situation in a playoff is a bonus compared to any level above (and indeed below in context of the gallows humour of talking about what sits under LL). In recent years we have sunk toward the level that East Stirlingshire formerly occupied, and Cowden took on for the last couple of years. If you're the worst side in the league you've no excuses.

As I also mentioned a few days ago: as I understand it the club not been inclined to see promotion widened beyond the current arrangement. Of course, that minimises chance of going down, but if you do go down to HL/LL the boot is on the other foot and the chance of getting back is equally minimal. If we end up in playoffs and lose then, again, there can be no complaints about that.

Edited April 21, 2019 by HibeeJibee

[cowdenbeath]

11 minutes ago, HibeeJibee said:

 

There are 2 further levels under LL in our part of the country - new EOSL Premier Division under LL, and EOSL First Division of conferences under that.

Even if the worst happens it'd take a remarkable collapse to ever be facing LL relegation.

More sobering is the fact that in 2 different cups - the South Challenge Cup and EOS Qualifying Cup - we could draw the likes of Eyemouth or Tweedmouth next season, if relegated to LL .

Do clubs actually have to take part in these cups or is it optional all focus on anyone relegated should be on trying to win the league next season cups are just a side issue,

[cowdenbeath]

3 minutes ago, HibeeJibee said:

I'm clearly not "delighted" to be facing them but if we end-up in them I've got no complaints. As I observed a few days ago: in any other level finishing bottom would mean going straight down, so having an opportunity to rescue the situation in a playoff is a bonus compared to any level above (and indeed below in context of the gallows humour of talking about what sits under LL). In recent years we have sunk toward the level that East Stirlingshire formerly occupied, and Cowden took on for the last couple of years. If you're the worst side in the league you've no excuses.

As I also mentioned a few days ago: as I understand it the club not been inclined to see promotion widened beyond the current arrangement. Of course, that minimises chance of going down, but if you do go down to HL/LL the boot is on the other foot and the chance of getting back is equally minimal. If we end up in playoffs and lose then, again, there can be no complaints about that.

I would be complaining how your club was allowed to sleepwalk into it if it happened, Anyway good luck what ever happens.

[HibeeJibee]

13 minutes ago, cowdenbeath said:

Do clubs actually have to take part in these cups or is it optional all focus on anyone relegated should be on trying to win the league next season cups are just a side issue,

You have to take part in the Scottish Cup, South Challenge Cup, and Lowland League Cup (unless you are in the playoffs as they run concurrently)... In theory we could resign from the EOSFA, to avoid playing in the EOS Qualifying Cup, but I'm not really sure what the point would be: it would just mean a few blank weekends dotted throughout the season, fewer games and so fewer opportunities to make gate and hospitality income, and so on. 'Shire did not join up - I think due to the punishing game-by-game rentals they were facing at Ochilview - but that would actually turn your logic round as they failed to rebound and gradually slumped away (2nd > 4th > 6th), while Edinburgh City, East Kilbride and Spartans have all won LL while entering the tournament.

This chat is getting ahead of ourselves, though. Still 180mins or 360mins (390mins?) football to play.

Edited April 21, 2019 by HibeeJibee

[cowdenbeath]

4 minutes ago, HibeeJibee said:

You have to take part in the Scottish Cup, South Challenge Cup, and Lowland League Cup (unless you are in the playoffs as they run concurrently)... In theory we could resign from the EOSFA, to avoid playing in the EOS Qualifying Cup, but I'm not really sure what the point would be: it would just mean a few blank weekends dotted throughout the season, fewer games and so fewer opportunities to make gate and hospitality income, and so on. 'Shire did not join up - I think due to the punishing game-by-game rentals they were facing at Ochilview - but that would actually turn your logic round as they failed to rebound and gradually slumped away (2nd > 4th > 6th), while Edinburgh City, East Kilbride and Spartans have all won LL while entering the tournament.

Scottish Cup is the one you of course want to be in. The others I would be a bit meh about although as you say the LC is just an add on at the end of the season.

[cowdenbeath]

7 minutes ago, HibeeJibee said:

You have to take part in the Scottish Cup, South Challenge Cup, and Lowland League Cup (unless you are in the playoffs as they run concurrently)... In theory we could resign from the EOSFA, to avoid playing in the EOS Qualifying Cup, but I'm not really sure what the point would be: it would just mean a few blank weekends dotted throughout the season, fewer games and so fewer opportunities to make gate and hospitality income, and so on. 'Shire did not join up - I think due to the punishing game-by-game rentals they were facing at Ochilview - but that would actually turn your logic round as they failed to rebound and gradually slumped away (2nd > 4th > 6th), while Edinburgh City, East Kilbride and Spartans have all won LL while entering the tournament.

This chat is getting ahead of ourselves, though. Still 180mins or 360mins (390mins?) football to play.

It was you who mentioned it as you say you can still get out of it. Make sure you don't lose in the 1st leg then take them in the 2nd.

[Yellow Feet]

On 15/03/2019 at 20:05, Berwick Obama said:

For context, doesn’t the sacked twitter god also go by the name of Yellow Feet on here?

Yes. Hello.

On 16/03/2019 at 08:55, Disc Potato said:

Questioning why John hasn’t spent more time appealing a decision to the SPFL sums up this joker. 

Why would the club want  to broadcast the current stage of proceedings. 

It's quite clear from going through all these posts that you don't like me, but i'll try my best to answer your questions anyway. I spent two hours before a board meeting, on the day this was first announced, researching any possible loophole we could explore to get the Albion points reversed. I presented all of these (Peterhead, Hearts, Dundee Utd to name a few) at the board meeting and said that as we expect the players to give 100% on the pitch, we should be giving 100% off the pitch. I asked that we at least put out a statement, as soon as possible, acknowledging that the club were aware of the situation and would be doing all they could do question it. I said that fans weren't happy with it and that we needed to be seen to be trying our hardest. I was shut down as "Edinburgh and Peterhead aren't questioning it" (A terrible point given they were ADVANTAGED by it) and because it was "Nothing to do with us". Furthermore, Mr Harvey said he "didn't want us to look desperate" and was probably offended by my reply that we kind of were desperate. Now i'm fully aware you were a director and will have contacts that may be telling you different things but my words on the subject were based on what i'd seen that day in that board meeting. You have since said that they wanted nothing to do with it - proving I was in fact correct.

On 30/03/2019 at 18:25, Redcar said:

Decent presentation by the Chairman (elect) and also by the manager. 

All very positive and realistic stuff. Particularly enthused by the potential link with North East players and with the attached new training regime. 

Also pleased by a contribution from a regular on here, that negative stuff on social media is (usually) a reaction, not something that screws us up in the first place. 

And then we get today's awful performance. 

Listen, I love this club.  It has so much more going for it than manufactured plastic wannabees elsewhere. If I were a player, I reckon I'd see that too. 

Right now, we're having a bad time. But we've had great times. What goes around comes around. 

I couldn't make the talk in but from what i've heard and seen both before it and after, this is way off the mark. Take the admission prices debate as an example. Looking at it from a general business perspective, not just football, how can anyone expect to charge the same price for a significantly poorer product and simultaneously increase customers? That's madness, as i have said. More to come on this. 

On 02/04/2019 at 22:04, DutchBorderer said:

Daniel McKenzie on leaving the club, alongside two other guys involved in the development setup;

This is a huge blow for the club, and to pre-answer a point coming up, the club taking NINE DAYS to announce this was part of my reasoning to suggest the social side is in the dark ages. Of course it's obvious that was done to try and make it look like they left and the end of the season and not with 3 games to go, as then people would want an explanation as to why they walked out. I don't know, but having worked with the man myself i'll guess it was JOHNNY HARVEY.

On 03/04/2019 at 18:42, BerwickMad said:

Saturday for me I’m afraid was little more than trying to maximise income to stand still and even then the internet and social media didn’t get a mention when talking about it. It was almost like a 10 year old presentation. I don’t want to sound like ‘I told you so’, because there are no easy answers and truthfully, I can’t think of many at this stage. 

I know your opinions on my blog  where I mentioned this but I was trying to highlight this is a wider issue than just me. Yourself, Dale, Kieran, Martin and others all did a lot of good work on that side of the club. I don't know the full details of the deal Dale worked to secure with Newcastle Airport but with it running out this summer I can't see it being replaced. The reality is, it should be getting built and improved upon. There was a real lack of willingness to listen, especially from John.  This has now left the club in a position where no one internally has any idea about how to do these things. 

On 06/04/2019 at 22:04, Fergie1 said:

Jonny knew exactly what situation the club was in before he took the job for 1. The current run of results/performances has absolutely nothing to do with the board, so that has to stop as an excuse. The reason it has nothing to do with the board is because Jonny has recruited 10/11 players since coming in which to me tells you the board has backed him. And regardless of most opinions that we are actually a lot worse, FACTS/STATS would actually tell you we are a lot worse since his arrival. 

This is something that annoys me. He knew what he was walking into so he can't use it as an excuse. The number of transfers shows that the board have backed him and he has made several wrong decisions. He has also made the claim that the players he wanted were not available. Why waste the money the board have offered then? It's already been well covered on here but the best performances i've seen this  season were our 4-2 win at Elgin and our Scottish Cup game v East Fife. Both of those, particularly Fife in the cup, were games with Robbie's squad. There was enough there to see us over until next season where he could've used that money more effectively imo.

On 06/04/2019 at 23:20, BB_Bino said:

Inviting a fan into the changing room to tell the players how important it is to have Berwick Rangers as a “league club”.....does nobody else find that a bit embarrassing? 

Again, everyone has already offered their opinion on this, but for me in theory it wasn't a bad idea. To do it straight after a 6-0 pumping and then publicly announce it however was a bad idea.

On 06/04/2019 at 23:49, TheGeneral10 said:

Listen. He was an absolute arsehole as manager of Edinburgh United. Even bigger so at Haddington and then his move to Penicuik made him practically unbearable. He’s shafted every club he’s been at (financially) in a relentless attempt to reach the top.

You all seem surprised that his interviews are a cringe fest yet thats been the case for well over 4 years. I remember a video he commissioned back in his Edinburgh United days that would make anybody’s toes curl.  Zero integrity. Zero humility. Zero class. Inviting a supporter into the dressing room has got to be the final nail. Not a player in their right mind is gonna think that is even close to acceptable. It’s embarrassing. 

He’s grasping at straws and is out his depth. Get out while you can. 

Just highlighting this, one of a few similar posts from different users in this thread, as I have been criticised for saying it.

On 07/04/2019 at 14:35, sammyreidloyal said:

Good,but sad stuff indeed. JH won't walk, the ego he has to put out an interview after these dreadful games proves that. Instead of perhaps humbly declining to talk he tries to convince everyone we won the the first half. It was 0-0, not two nil to us Johnny. The board won't sack him, they haven't the backbone. Probably financial. And he knows it.
The statistics speak for themselves. One win since November last year. He can't change things because he doesn't know how to. Truly awful.

Another point I have been criticised for saying.

On 07/04/2019 at 14:17, berwick-the-unbeatable said:

For me, it seems Harvey is struggling to motivate and can't put an organised team on the park. In recruitment, he's fared even worse. We shouldn't forget he lost our best player/top scorer, simply because he couldn't manage him, and we shouldn't forget that he's replaced those lost goals with two forwards who didn't have a senior goal between them (one still doesn't and is a five-a-side player), and now it looks like he's turning to Grant Rose, another goalless striker. We're currently without hope at both ends of the pitch. 

Spot on - Paul Willis point blank refused to play for him again. Yet another example of him being hard to work with.

On 07/04/2019 at 16:15, Berwick Tait said:

the 3rd string keeper from Cowdenbeath? Why not a striker or midfielder on loan? We had a reserve team keeper who has now left because there was no chance of progression. The kick in the teeth for him was when the goalkeeping coach was on the subs bench in front of him.

I'm actually going to defend half of this statement - Harvey sent Dabrowski back to Hibs as he felt it would be better to have two fully signed 'keepers at the club. You can't argue with that and he brought in a 'keeper he trusted. Dispite being a bit of a loud-mouthed dick (i'll point out the hypocrisy to save you all the hassle) I thought Allison was a good player. He had a presence at the back and was vocal - something we had lacked. Nothing could be done about him dislocating his knee and by that point I imagine loan options were extremely limited.

The second part though is spot on and a complete joke. The sub goalie is there as nothing more than cover and to put the goalie coach (who from a google search doesn't appear to have played since 14/15) ahead of the reserve 'keeper is a joke. I'd have walked if I had been overlooked like that, and I find it very disrespectful to the coaching staff at the reserves too as it shafted them.

On 08/04/2019 at 16:52, The Crafty Dafty said:

The Rose players didn’t want Harvey, he’s probably the most overrated coach around and has an ego that is out of control

Seems to have been well known before we appointed him. 

On 08/04/2019 at 18:53, Pompey Blue said:

If you believe 449 are going to regularly turn up for LL football you’re insane. Any club would lose a chunk of fans the lower they go. 

 

On 08/04/2019 at 18:58, David Brent said:

There’s not a chance I’m paying £12 to watch lowland league football next season, regardless of how well we do at that level. They can sell it anyway they want but we are the ones who are going to be suffering from their mismanagement. 

A point i've already touched on but going back into it with more detail. John told me of his plans to maintain £12 admission if we end up in the Lowland. I questioned this as the strapline of the Lowland League is "affordable football" and admission is no more than £7 or maybe £8 elsewhere. I argued that a loss of away fans and more casual supporters would have a heavier financial dent than reducing prices, and admission decline can be seen by Shire's example. 

I then suggested, off the top of my head, that we could do some form of loyalty season ticket for supporters who understood why we looked at keeping it at £12 to continue offering the same level of financial support. This way the general admission would be best suited to keep attendances as high as possible but we'd also have the potential to gain that little extra from the core, loyal fanbase. I'm sure I read Redcar say he'd be willing to pay £12 for a season - so that's the kind of point I was making.

For this to have all been ignored and then see the original plans widely criticised is massively frustrating. the club hasn't shared the admission prices online yet for fear of a backlash - kind of proving that they know it's wrong. 

On 10/04/2019 at 20:54, Disc Potato said:

It’s his bitterness I don’t like. 

I've seen a lot of comments about my bitterness. Think what you want but any ill-feelings I have are from frustration at being denied the chance to help and improve the club in areas that I can. All anyone can do is their best and if people are willing to help they should be encouraged to. I had to fight, and I mean really fight, to introduce a lot of things that have been widely applauded (Robbie Horn even had to step in on occasion to tell JB to go with my ideas). I feel I could have done more to help this situation if i'd been trusted, but everyone who knows the club knows John Bell doesn't like me and now he's in charge he was looking for any old excuse to get rid.  

On 11/04/2019 at 08:52, berwick-the-unbeatable said:

You'll struggle to find anyone more self interested, demanding the club photographer gets a snap of him on squad photo day or pushing through merchandise orders cause he wants it then demanding he's the face of it so he can feel important.
 

The first one was to help make sure the picture was going to be framed correctly - we were using chairs for the first time to ensure the photos were more consistent and of a higher standard. The second one was for a laugh due to the reaction to the first one.

Second point - I wanted that range to be used as our primary training range and was told I couldn't as it was going to be introduced as a retro range. That was in February 2017 and you were sat beside me in the meeting. I had originally planned to have Eric model it, a player who wore the original kit it was replicating, but Football Nation fucked up as per usual. I then planned to have a current player model it, but FN still hadn't delivered the sample. Despite have 9 months to produce a sample, FN delivered it two hours before it went on sale. I had no choice but to model it or we'd have been releasing a product range with no images. Hope this helps x

On 11/04/2019 at 10:59, Disc Potato said:

Yes plenty.

Basically blames Berwick as club for Blair Henderson choosing Edinburgh City. Which job would you go for if there was £100 a week difference in wages?

"Sadly, we’ve had nothing but rain since and the fund is now gone"  Does Dom do the accounts? There is plenty left as the vice-chairman eluded to at the open forum.

"leaving a boardroom full of dinosaurs to run the club"  Totally disagree with this comment.  As reported by Berwick Mad, George Mathieson has provided to the supporters club a strategy for taking the club forward, hardly dinosaur talk. John Bell spoke well at the recent open forum, there was a couple of points arising from that meeting that worries me but its not because the chairman elect is a "dinosaur".

"Whilst it’s blindingly obvious now that Johnny was the wrong man for the job, I felt at the time this was the case"  The biggest load of aftertiming I've seen. There wasn't exactly a list full of shit hot candidates applied and the fact only two were interviewed tells you everything. At that stage Johnny was by far the best candicate and deservedly got the job IMO.

"The first thing Mr Harvey did upon his arrival was send Cedwyn Scott – a striker on loan from Dundee – back to his parent club"   Cedwyn asked to go back and this wasnt the first time he was spoken to for his attitude, the previous manager also had strong words for him. He thought playing for Berwick was like a kick about with his mates. Check his minutes on the pitch since his switch to Forfar. 

9. Ahmed Aloualou - Fails to mention he is actually signed with a championship club in Alloa. Makes it sound like Johnny went along to a school hall and signed him up. FYI, I also think this was a poor signing.

"any style of play whatsoever as the players now seem to have no idea or direction"  There looked to be plenty of direction in our recent match against Peterhead.

"Harvey arrived with a bit of a reputation for arrogance and talking nonsense from former roles. " Nothing wrong with a bit of arrogance if you are a football manager, I used to watch all his post match Penicuik videos and don't remember him talking much nonsense.

Blimey, this is a big one. Here goes, hope this helps:

1. I was simply trying to highlight the fact that their arrival has made it harder for us to recruit from the Edinburgh area. I used Blair Henderson as an example as we would have had a better chance of getting him back if it wasn't for Edinburgh being in the same league. Robbie said at his talk-in that there was several players chose them over us. It is something that has affected us. I wasn't claiming Edinburgh were more ambitious than us, although clearly by the reaction it's obvious they are.

2. Has Craig heard of companies house? Decrease of amount in Cash at Bank and in hand over the last 3 years - 60%. Combined loss from May 2015 to May 2018 - £221,159. If all is well, why is the finances card played at every opportunity?

3. I've made my opinion based on what i've seen in the boardroom over the last 18 months or so that I was in there, combined with how i've watched the club fall. We are all entitled to our own opinions and that's mine. 

4. I don't know who was or wasn't interviewed, so I can't pass comment on them. You clearly do, so feel free to enlighten us all? What i'm saying (and I couldn't say publicaly at the time as part of the club) is that Johnny's CV is the exact same as Robbie's and he had just failed. Take the team names off and they read almost identical.  It would have been nice to see a more experienced head come in (Arbroath with Campbell, Clyde with Lennon, Cowden with Bollan) but of course your opinion on my words is guided by inside knowledge.

5. There are some players worth taking a risk on for a bad attitude in my opinion. Cedwyn had a brilliant goalscoring record and that carried over to us. Murrell is an example of a player with a terrible attitude that seemed to have given up and I wasn't sad to see him go. 

6. I'm glad we agree it was a poor signing. I didn't mention where he came from as it's irrelevant. As others have pointed out, he's never scored a goal. He could've came from Real Madrid and it would've still been a blindingly obvious mistake.

7. We've not scored since I said that. over 5.5 games without a goal. Stats don't lie.

8. A bit of Arrogance would've been fine if accompanied by any decent results. It hasn't been though which makes it a lot worse.

On 13/04/2019 at 20:41, newcastle broon said:

It's great Berwick do these interviews every week.Maybes the club should pull the plug on them for now. He looks totally rattled and distressed by it all.  Do other clubs do this as well  ?  

I haven't mentioned it for fear of further bitterness accusations, but that interview should never have gone live. After Coff's famous interview, I sat in on every single one to ensure nothing like that was shared again, as no one else seemed to have a functioning filter.  Worth noting here that Johnny made us all stand in Dennis' office for about half an hour every week, something Coff and Robbie never did. Yesterday's was equally bad. The number of views over the last few weeks shows just how big a laughing stock they have become and the plug needs pulled.

On 15/04/2019 at 13:58, BerwickMad said:

I’m not even sure who’s in charge. The chairman, the chairman elect, or if its a collective decision to just do nothing. I know there’s a lack of alternatives, but these players clearly aren’t playing for him. They barely make a noise on the pitch and just look resigned to their fate. There’s still a few decent players there, Adamson, See, Blues, OKane, Brydon, Forbes etc. Surely there must be someone out there who can organise a team for a few games.

John Bell is in charge and has been since at least the start of the year.

On 15/04/2019 at 19:04, sammyreidloyal said:

Can we expect a statement from our illustrious board at any time?

I think it's terrible and a sign of the weakness at board level that after refusing to comment on the situation at the time we do so after the decision and the appeal has all been done and dusted. Rangers get a lot of stick in Scottish football but at least they know how to make decent statements - we should've taken a similar attitude. 

On 15/04/2019 at 23:37, Disc Potato said:

They wanted nothing to do with an appeal . In the end after persuasion they sent a supporting statement for Clyde. 

Just highlighting this since you mauled me for saying it a month ago.  

20 hours ago, Alpha Gordini said:

I'd ask the guys from the reserve team to come in and replace the current lot for the rest of the season.

I think a lot of people would've been up for this if they hadn't already been forced out.

18 hours ago, berwick-the-unbeatable said:

To me, it seems that though he isn't blind, he's certainly ignorant of them. When something becomes the view of the majority (I think it's fair to say Harvey being sacked previously is a fine example), the indication is that he sees it as 'troublemaking' or truanting. That he thinks you simply can't be a fan if you don't fall in line. Worse, my guess (and this is absolutely an assumption) is that as his good friends, those who he is close to, are still in his ear telling him he's doing a good job. This whilst we sleepwalk to a fate even worse than relegation and in his mind justifying continued delusion. 

This whole post is spot on but i'm going to add comment on this one paragraph. I was told yesterday by a director that match updates weren't posted as they would only fuel the keyboard warriors. This emphasises my dinosaur and dark ages comments. It is appalling that  frustrations of fans, many of whom have been season ticket holders since before I was born,  are being viewed simply as keyboard warriors. Now I know full well that comments can be taken too far on social media (after all, i've been the one on the receiving end of them via the club accounts for the last few years) but social media is also a valuable tool in monitoring and understanding the feeling of your supporters. For the club to turn a blind eye to that is a massive mistake.

17 hours ago, Redcar said:

Simply because, Dale, I see this Board - or at least John Bell's period in charge - is in its infancy. Just over half a season. 

There's confirmation of the answer to the "who is in charge" questions.

15 hours ago, Disc Potato said:

John Bell is a major asset as a director of Berwick Rangers but what has become clear over the last few weeks is he certainly isn’t the right person to  be our next chairman.

At least we can agree on one thing.

4 hours ago, BerwickMad said:

Apparently I was picked out as wishing for magic beans or something as equally patronising for wanting investment in the club.

I wouldn’t mind, but I think I started saying it on here a couple of years ago after that shite season and have mentioned it directly to him in front of others twice in the last few months. I don’t think I ever gave the impression, here or face to face that it was easy to attract, but always that the club should be putting themselves in the best position possible to make them open for investment. I’d even talked about the sale of shares being an option to make it more attractive to someone. It’s not ‘magic beans’ when potential investors have been put off in the past.
 

Apologies for talking about myself again, I know you all don't like it, but I have been saying for years (directly to the board) that we need to be fully analysing our audiences, both online and offline, and specifically targeting the companies who are chasing similar audiences and asking them how we can work together. Graham Bell previously advertised the shirt sponsorship to companies as "be seen on our shirts from Elgin in the North to Annan in the South". What use is that to anyone? John Bell has now been sat firing from the hip sending emails to everyone and anyone asking for money. It doesn't take a lot of work to do this in my opinion and yet it would have a great impact on securing commercial deals, particularly smaller ones. This is an area where commercially the club could benefit from our digital presence and I really hope they realise this and bring someone in to do that.

4 hours ago, Fergie1 said:

Also noted is no result posted to the facebook page, clearly to prevent Harvey’s family having disagreement with us, some quotes where we don’t have a clue about football and under Harvey we will reach the SPL. 

This again was to avoid the loyal supporters having an opinion on winning one game in 23.  Sorry I mean this was to avoid feeding trolls and keyboard warriors.

3 hours ago, Disc Potato said:

I spoke to a director after the 7-1 humping at Hampden, quote “Managers have been sacked for less” I spoke to two directors a few weeks ago that agreed a change was required but nothing has happened. Who is pulling the strings and making decisions at board level? This is costing us now but can’t imagine to think about the future, one thing is a certain that future won’t last long. 

John Bell, as i've highlighted above. I also think a massive, massive issue though is the willingness of directors to openly discuss everything and anything to do with the club in public. Anything that has to come from the boardroom should be coming through the club's official channels in a timely and precise manner.

Johnny, since you're probably reading this, your new chairman is your leak and has been for several years.

2 hours ago, berwick-the-unbeatable said:

Outside of the inexplicable continued backing of the manager, John has taken a very much one-dimensional approach to his first however many months in charge and it falls in line with the plan he's had for it for about a decade. He's continues to fail to acknowledge or even ask fans what they want (even at a time when we're at our most vocal), and indeed is treating it as though it is simply criticism from troublemakers. It's not. These are wants of fans that he continues to ignore in favour of an entrenched personal vision. My hope when the boardroom battle subsided was that John would take a sensible new inclusive approach. He's failed to do so and has shown no sign of changing that. 

Spot on again. This is where my dislike of the man comes from. I thought I could change it and was booted out. We're fucked.

2 hours ago, Redcar said:

I must add though that any notion I am 'close' to John Bell is way off the mark. I have seen him probably once in 3 years and that was at the talk-in a few weeks ago. I have also exchanged messages with him a few times, but mostly that was last year over a personal issue I had with a club volunteer. 

I know we've shaken hands on this and moved on, but the very fact you went to him on the issue - going over my head instead of simply apologising - highlights the fact you are clearly good friends.

 

I'm fully aware i'm not a popular man right now but all i've done is say it as it is from what i've seen over the last few years. I'm massively frustrated, as we all are, and it's heartbreaking to now be helpless as we're plunged further than we've ever been into this shambles. I've decided to come back on here to try and offer a bit more on why i've said what I said as it has been questioned a lot. It's still my opinion that we need to roll the dice for the playoffs, but all optimism I had has been gone a while and simply being told to "#backtheblackandgold" isn't enough. Actions speak louder than words. 

[LongTimeLurker]

34 minutes ago, HibeeJibee said:

...Even if the worst happens it'd take a remarkable collapse to ever be facing LL relegation...

For now that's true but ever is a very long time. If west superleague clubs like Auchinleck Talbot, Cumnock, Glenafton Athletic, Irvine Meadow, Kilwinning Rangers, Largs Thistle, Beith, Kilbirnie, Clydebank, Petershill, Arthurlie and Pollok start to filter their way into the LL along with the likes of Bo'ness United, Bonnyrigg Rose and Linlithgow Rose from the east over the next decade or two, the LL will eventually be a very different division from what it is now.

[Redcar]

8 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

For now that's true but ever is a very long time. If west superleague clubs like Auchinleck Talbot, Cumnock, Glenafton Athletic, Irvine Meadow, Kilwinning Rangers, Largs Thistle, Beith, Kilbirnie, Clydebank, Petershill, Arthurlie and Pollok start to filter their way into the LL along with the likes of Bo'ness United, Bonnyrigg Rose and Linlithgow Rose from the east over the next decade or two, the LL will eventually be a very different division from what it is now.

Don't think we will slump down the Lowland League but there is a good chance we will just do what the Shire did. Win plenty, but not quite enough. 

All those clubs coming into the LL will seriously dilute the available player pool. 

[DutchBorderer]

Deleted since, what was contained inside?

[berwick-the-unbeatable]

1 minute ago, DutchBorderer said:

Deleted since, what was contained inside?

For the best, it was a shite bit of patter that made his rare sense offered above all the more frustrating. 

@Yellow Feet for all I think you're a total dick (as I'm sure you're aware of and reciprocate) I think the vast majority of that post is valid and fair. Though clearly shambolic across the board, very little of it comes as a surprise and really it is further confirmation that we're not just heading down the wrong path, but now accelerating down it. The club must be absolutely fucked to have me agreeing with you. I'm off to lie down.

[CowdenPhil]

4 minutes ago, DutchBorderer said:

Deleted since, what was contained inside?

Nothing apart from more attention seeking from Pishy Feet. Your club is better off without him. 

[Yellow Feet]

28 minutes ago, DutchBorderer said:

Deleted since, what was contained inside?

Wasn't particularly helpful alongside my attempt to be serious in here really was it. 

[Fitbaw enthusiast]

Canny wait for next week when the boos ring round the stadium as Albion rovers seal the place in the league after Smarticus smashes in his second in a 2-0 win

[cmontheloknow]

Re the very long post above, Andy Carlin has been playing Junior consistently since 2006. Kilsyth and Linlithgow the past 4 seasons.

[Fergie1]

2 hours ago, Yellow Feet said:

Yes. Hello.

It's quite clear from going through all these posts that you don't like me, but i'll try my best to answer your questions anyway. I spent two hours before a board meeting, on the day this was first announced, researching any possible loophole we could explore to get the Albion points reversed. I presented all of these (Peterhead, Hearts, Dundee Utd to name a few) at the board meeting and said that as we expect the players to give 100% on the pitch, we should be giving 100% off the pitch. I asked that we at least put out a statement, as soon as possible, acknowledging that the club were aware of the situation and would be doing all they could do question it. I said that fans weren't happy with it and that we needed to be seen to be trying our hardest. I was shut down as "Edinburgh and Peterhead aren't questioning it" (A terrible point given they were ADVANTAGED by it) and because it was "Nothing to do with us". Furthermore, Mr Harvey said he "didn't want us to look desperate" and was probably offended by my reply that we kind of were desperate. Now i'm fully aware you were a director and will have contacts that may be telling you different things but my words on the subject were based on what i'd seen that day in that board meeting. You have since said that they wanted nothing to do with it - proving I was in fact correct.

I couldn't make the talk in but from what i've heard and seen both before it and after, this is way off the mark. Take the admission prices debate as an example. Looking at it from a general business perspective, not just football, how can anyone expect to charge the same price for a significantly poorer product and simultaneously increase customers? That's madness, as i have said. More to come on this. 

This is a huge blow for the club, and to pre-answer a point coming up, the club taking NINE DAYS to announce this was part of my reasoning to suggest the social side is in the dark ages. Of course it's obvious that was done to try and make it look like they left and the end of the season and not with 3 games to go, as then people would want an explanation as to why they walked out. I don't know, but having worked with the man myself i'll guess it was JOHNNY HARVEY.

I know your opinions on my blog  where I mentioned this but I was trying to highlight this is a wider issue than just me. Yourself, Dale, Kieran, Martin and others all did a lot of good work on that side of the club. I don't know the full details of the deal Dale worked to secure with Newcastle Airport but with it running out this summer I can't see it being replaced. The reality is, it should be getting built and improved upon. There was a real lack of willingness to listen, especially from John.  This has now left the club in a position where no one internally has any idea about how to do these things. 

This is something that annoys me. He knew what he was walking into so he can't use it as an excuse. The number of transfers shows that the board have backed him and he has made several wrong decisions. He has also made the claim that the players he wanted were not available. Why waste the money the board have offered then? It's already been well covered on here but the best performances i've seen this  season were our 4-2 win at Elgin and our Scottish Cup game v East Fife. Both of those, particularly Fife in the cup, were games with Robbie's squad. There was enough there to see us over until next season where he could've used that money more effectively imo.

Again, everyone has already offered their opinion on this, but for me in theory it wasn't a bad idea. To do it straight after a 6-0 pumping and then publicly announce it however was a bad idea.

Just highlighting this, one of a few similar posts from different users in this thread, as I have been criticised for saying it.

Another point I have been criticised for saying.

Spot on - Paul Willis point blank refused to play for him again. Yet another example of him being hard to work with.

I'm actually going to defend half of this statement - Harvey sent Dabrowski back to Hibs as he felt it would be better to have two fully signed 'keepers at the club. You can't argue with that and he brought in a 'keeper he trusted. Dispite being a bit of a loud-mouthed dick (i'll point out the hypocrisy to save you all the hassle) I thought Allison was a good player. He had a presence at the back and was vocal - something we had lacked. Nothing could be done about him dislocating his knee and by that point I imagine loan options were extremely limited.

The second part though is spot on and a complete joke. The sub goalie is there as nothing more than cover and to put the goalie coach (who from a google search doesn't appear to have played since 14/15) ahead of the reserve 'keeper is a joke. I'd have walked if I had been overlooked like that, and I find it very disrespectful to the coaching staff at the reserves too as it shafted them.

Seems to have been well known before we appointed him. 

 

A point i've already touched on but going back into it with more detail. John told me of his plans to maintain £12 admission if we end up in the Lowland. I questioned this as the strapline of the Lowland League is "affordable football" and admission is no more than £7 or maybe £8 elsewhere. I argued that a loss of away fans and more casual supporters would have a heavier financial dent than reducing prices, and admission decline can be seen by Shire's example. 

I then suggested, off the top of my head, that we could do some form of loyalty season ticket for supporters who understood why we looked at keeping it at £12 to continue offering the same level of financial support. This way the general admission would be best suited to keep attendances as high as possible but we'd also have the potential to gain that little extra from the core, loyal fanbase. I'm sure I read Redcar say he'd be willing to pay £12 for a season - so that's the kind of point I was making.

For this to have all been ignored and then see the original plans widely criticised is massively frustrating. the club hasn't shared the admission prices online yet for fear of a backlash - kind of proving that they know it's wrong. 

I've seen a lot of comments about my bitterness. Think what you want but any ill-feelings I have are from frustration at being denied the chance to help and improve the club in areas that I can. All anyone can do is their best and if people are willing to help they should be encouraged to. I had to fight, and I mean really fight, to introduce a lot of things that have been widely applauded (Robbie Horn even had to step in on occasion to tell JB to go with my ideas). I feel I could have done more to help this situation if i'd been trusted, but everyone who knows the club knows John Bell doesn't like me and now he's in charge he was looking for any old excuse to get rid.  

The first one was to help make sure the picture was going to be framed correctly - we were using chairs for the first time to ensure the photos were more consistent and of a higher standard. The second one was for a laugh due to the reaction to the first one.

Second point - I wanted that range to be used as our primary training range and was told I couldn't as it was going to be introduced as a retro range. That was in February 2017 and you were sat beside me in the meeting. I had originally planned to have Eric model it, a player who wore the original kit it was replicating, but Football Nation fucked up as per usual. I then planned to have a current player model it, but FN still hadn't delivered the sample. Despite have 9 months to produce a sample, FN delivered it two hours before it went on sale. I had no choice but to model it or we'd have been releasing a product range with no images. Hope this helps x

Blimey, this is a big one. Here goes, hope this helps:

1. I was simply trying to highlight the fact that their arrival has made it harder for us to recruit from the Edinburgh area. I used Blair Henderson as an example as we would have had a better chance of getting him back if it wasn't for Edinburgh being in the same league. Robbie said at his talk-in that there was several players chose them over us. It is something that has affected us. I wasn't claiming Edinburgh were more ambitious than us, although clearly by the reaction it's obvious they are.

2. Has Craig heard of companies house? Decrease of amount in Cash at Bank and in hand over the last 3 years - 60%. Combined loss from May 2015 to May 2018 - £221,159. If all is well, why is the finances card played at every opportunity?

3. I've made my opinion based on what i've seen in the boardroom over the last 18 months or so that I was in there, combined with how i've watched the club fall. We are all entitled to our own opinions and that's mine. 

4. I don't know who was or wasn't interviewed, so I can't pass comment on them. You clearly do, so feel free to enlighten us all? What i'm saying (and I couldn't say publicaly at the time as part of the club) is that Johnny's CV is the exact same as Robbie's and he had just failed. Take the team names off and they read almost identical.  It would have been nice to see a more experienced head come in (Arbroath with Campbell, Clyde with Lennon, Cowden with Bollan) but of course your opinion on my words is guided by inside knowledge.

5. There are some players worth taking a risk on for a bad attitude in my opinion. Cedwyn had a brilliant goalscoring record and that carried over to us. Murrell is an example of a player with a terrible attitude that seemed to have given up and I wasn't sad to see him go. 

6. I'm glad we agree it was a poor signing. I didn't mention where he came from as it's irrelevant. As others have pointed out, he's never scored a goal. He could've came from Real Madrid and it would've still been a blindingly obvious mistake.

7. We've not scored since I said that. over 5.5 games without a goal. Stats don't lie.

8. A bit of Arrogance would've been fine if accompanied by any decent results. It hasn't been though which makes it a lot worse.

I haven't mentioned it for fear of further bitterness accusations, but that interview should never have gone live. After Coff's famous interview, I sat in on every single one to ensure nothing like that was shared again, as no one else seemed to have a functioning filter.  Worth noting here that Johnny made us all stand in Dennis' office for about half an hour every week, something Coff and Robbie never did. Yesterday's was equally bad. The number of views over the last few weeks shows just how big a laughing stock they have become and the plug needs pulled.

John Bell is in charge and has been since at least the start of the year.

I think it's terrible and a sign of the weakness at board level that after refusing to comment on the situation at the time we do so after the decision and the appeal has all been done and dusted. Rangers get a lot of stick in Scottish football but at least they know how to make decent statements - we should've taken a similar attitude. 

Just highlighting this since you mauled me for saying it a month ago.  

I think a lot of people would've been up for this if they hadn't already been forced out.

This whole post is spot on but i'm going to add comment on this one paragraph. I was told yesterday by a director that match updates weren't posted as they would only fuel the keyboard warriors. This emphasises my dinosaur and dark ages comments. It is appalling that  frustrations of fans, many of whom have been season ticket holders since before I was born,  are being viewed simply as keyboard warriors. Now I know full well that comments can be taken too far on social media (after all, i've been the one on the receiving end of them via the club accounts for the last few years) but social media is also a valuable tool in monitoring and understanding the feeling of your supporters. For the club to turn a blind eye to that is a massive mistake.

There's confirmation of the answer to the "who is in charge" questions.

At least we can agree on one thing.

Apologies for talking about myself again, I know you all don't like it, but I have been saying for years (directly to the board) that we need to be fully analysing our audiences, both online and offline, and specifically targeting the companies who are chasing similar audiences and asking them how we can work together. Graham Bell previously advertised the shirt sponsorship to companies as "be seen on our shirts from Elgin in the North to Annan in the South". What use is that to anyone? John Bell has now been sat firing from the hip sending emails to everyone and anyone asking for money. It doesn't take a lot of work to do this in my opinion and yet it would have a great impact on securing commercial deals, particularly smaller ones. This is an area where commercially the club could benefit from our digital presence and I really hope they realise this and bring someone in to do that.

This again was to avoid the loyal supporters having an opinion on winning one game in 23.  Sorry I mean this was to avoid feeding trolls and keyboard warriors.

John Bell, as i've highlighted above. I also think a massive, massive issue though is the willingness of directors to openly discuss everything and anything to do with the club in public. Anything that has to come from the boardroom should be coming through the club's official channels in a timely and precise manner.

Johnny, since you're probably reading this, your new chairman is your leak and has been for several years.

Spot on again. This is where my dislike of the man comes from. I thought I could change it and was booted out. We're fucked.

I know we've shaken hands on this and moved on, but the very fact you went to him on the issue - going over my head instead of simply apologising - highlights the fact you are clearly good friends.

 

I'm fully aware i'm not a popular man right now but all i've done is say it as it is from what i've seen over the last few years. I'm massively frustrated, as we all are, and it's heartbreaking to now be helpless as we're plunged further than we've ever been into this shambles. I've decided to come back on here to try and offer a bit more on why i've said what I said as it has been questioned a lot. It's still my opinion that we need to roll the dice for the playoffs, but all optimism I had has been gone a while and simply being told to "#backtheblackandgold" isn't enough. Actions speak louder than words. 

Well done for coming on here and silencing a few arseholes mate. Setting the record straight with some truths. 

It pains me to say it but even with huge games to come, which could potentially determine the clubs very existence I don’t think I can return to Shielfield as long as Harvey is in charge.