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Berwick Rangers 2018/2019 Thread


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8 minutes ago, cmontheloknow said:

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

Fair enough if that is true, data is harder to find at that level. Doesn't change my opinion on the situation though, should never unretire a coach over a fit and able player imo. 

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5 minutes ago, Yellow Feet said:

Fair enough if that is true, data is harder to find at that level. Doesn't change my opinion on the situation though, should never unretire a coach over a fit and able player imo. 

He was a signed Linlithgow player this season, albeit back-up, and made his first appearance on your bench a month after Rose announced he'd left (and needed replacing).

https://www.linlithgowgazette.co.uk/sport/football/linlithgow-rose-boss-bradley-pleased-to-be-back-on-goal-trail-1-4823065

Edited by cmontheloknow
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22 minutes ago, Fergie1 said:

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. 

Johnny Harvey thinks he is bigger and better than the club.   Mr Bell talking to ppl that know or worked with him told me the demise of BR would be fast.   

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1 hour ago, cmontheloknow said:

He was a signed Linlithgow player this season, albeit back-up, and made his first appearance on your bench a month after Rose announced he'd left (and needed replacing).

https://www.linlithgowgazette.co.uk/sport/football/linlithgow-rose-boss-bradley-pleased-to-be-back-on-goal-trail-1-4823065

Andy only played a handful of matches at Linlithgow during his time there. 

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3 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. 

You should write a book, another book that is.

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I've been out most of the day. Has he gone yet?

If the issue really *is* about paying off his contract, I'm sure that if the club asked for contributions they'd more than cover it. I'd happily stick in a tenner. I think most supporters on here would.

In fact I suspect that several of the fans who don't support Berwick on here would even be happy to chip in a quid or two just to (a) see the back of him, and (b) improve the chances of us staying in the league.

 

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2 hours ago, Yellow Feet said:

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.

Who's your source for saying Cedwyn has a bad attitude?  It seems you can't be associated with Berwick without getting caught up in character assassination.

 

2 hours ago, Yellow Feet said:

"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. 

This comment from Disc Potato is completely wrong, except for the fact that Cedwyn was not sent back. I asked Disc Potato for his source of information about Forfar. He hasn't answered. 

The idea that Cedwyn thought playing for Berwick was like a kick about with his mates is clearly fanciful nonsense. Where does anybody get that idea from? He ended with 4 goals in 6 starts with a top goals to minutes ratio, all the more remarkable given Berwick has been described as the worst performing team North and South of the border. 

When a club is bumping along at the bottom of the league, the manager resigning, numerous players getting sent off weekly, a wholly unfit assistant manager filling in and then getting the hook at half time, fans angry and frustrated, would you want a player to express some honest words in a frank dressing room conversation? Or keep his head down and not say a single word that might be construed by someone somewhere as rocking the boat? Which is the good attitude?  Which is the bad attitude? 

The lad left home at 15 in the hope of making a career playing the game he loves, and worked hard to win a professional contract with Huddersfield Town at age 18.  On the back of winning a fans award at Dundee FC for his performances in the under 20s, he went on to make first team appearances off the bench in the Scottish premiership. Anyone peddling the idea that he would treat his first professional starts at a proud football club like Berwick Rangers as kick abouts with his mates clearly has no idea about him. That person needs to question the sources of their information.

 

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2 minutes ago, Hugo said:

Who's your source for saying Cedwyn has a bad attitude?  It seems you can't be associated with Berwick without getting caught up in character assassination.

I don't think he had a bad attidude. I was told, from within the club, that he was sent back because Johnny thought he had a bad attitude. 

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18 minutes ago, Hugo said:

Who's your source for saying Cedwyn has a bad attitude?  It seems you can't be associated with Berwick without getting caught up in character assassination.

 

This comment from Disc Potato is completely wrong, except for the fact that Cedwyn was not sent back. I asked Disc Potato for his source of information about Forfar. He hasn't answered. 

The idea that Cedwyn thought playing for Berwick was like a kick about with his mates is clearly fanciful nonsense. Where does anybody get that idea from? He ended with 4 goals in 6 starts with a top goals to minutes ratio, all the more remarkable given Berwick has been described as the worst performing team North and South of the border. 

When a club is bumping along at the bottom of the league, the manager resigning, numerous players getting sent off weekly, a wholly unfit assistant manager filling in and then getting the hook at half time, fans angry and frustrated, would you want a player to express some honest words in a frank dressing room conversation? Or keep his head down and not say a single word that might be construed by someone somewhere as rocking the boat? Which is the good attitude?  Which is the bad attitude? 

The lad left home at 15 in the hope of making a career playing the game he loves, and worked hard to win a professional contract with Huddersfield Town at age 18.  On the back of winning a fans award at Dundee FC for his performances in the under 20s, he went on to make first team appearances off the bench in the Scottish premiership. Anyone peddling the idea that he would treat his first professional starts at a proud football club like Berwick Rangers as kick abouts with his mates clearly has no idea about him. That person needs to question the sources of their information.

 

FFS man.

read what I said. The previous manager spoke to him about his attitude. The current manager spoke to him about his attitude. He wanted to leave and the current manager offered to drive him back. He returned to Dundee so please move on.

He hasn’t played much since joining Forfar was all I was saying. 

 

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Said to someone a couple months back I thought maybe Berwick could be in trouble.  Rovers were showing some signs of getting themselves a little bit better organized while you seemed to be in freefall.  It still doesn't excuse our absolute shambles of an admin error which obviously gave Rovers an immediate further shot in the arm,  but I hope both our teams win their respective playoffs.

Us for obvious reasons, but in your case, Cove are one of maybe only two HL teams who actually want to come up, are run by a sugar daddy, get a nice little additional earner for use of their pitch for Aberdeen's reserves and youth teams, and will add absolutely nothing to what's already in the division.

The entire Lowland League are a bunch of glorified boys club chancers with a long history of public money subsidies who again will add absolutely nothing to the rest of the game.  The pyramid system in a country this size & population is absolutely laughable, instigated by an organization who used to say there were too many teams....but jumped the dyke as this was the price for allowing Raynjurz back in.   A team will inevitably end up tenth, that doesn't mean they're not at least trying to be better or have just had a particularly bad season.   They've probably spent years working hard to generate funds for players, and stadium upkeep - what's looking to replace you are playing in training pitches, couldn't give a shit about facilities, just exploiting the fast track to get access to even more handouts. 

f**k them.  Hope you stay up

 

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9 minutes ago, BrigtonClyde said:

Said to someone a couple months back I thought maybe Berwick could be in trouble.  Rovers were showing some signs of getting themselves a little bit better organized while you seemed to be in freefall.  It still doesn't excuse our absolute shambles of an admin error which obviously gave Rovers an immediate further shot in the arm,  but I hope both our teams win their respective playoffs.

Us for obvious reasons, but in your case, Cove are one of maybe only two HL teams who actually want to come up, are run by a sugar daddy, get a nice little additional earner for use of their pitch for Aberdeen's reserves and youth teams, and will add absolutely nothing to what's already in the division.

The entire Lowland League are a bunch of glorified boys club chancers with a long history of public money subsidies who again will add absolutely nothing to the rest of the game.  The pyramid system in a country this size & population is absolutely laughable, instigated by an organization who used to say there were too many teams....but jumped the dyke as this was the price for allowing Raynjurz back in.   A team will inevitably end up tenth, that doesn't mean they're not at least trying to be better or have just had a particularly bad season.   They've probably spent years working hard to generate funds for players, and stadium upkeep - what's looking to replace you are playing in training pitches, couldn't give a shit about facilities, just exploiting the fast track to get access to even more handouts. 

f**k them.  Hope you stay up

 

That'll be news to East Stirlingshire, for one.

Only 1 team in 4 attempts has exploited this "fast track".

Edited by Jacksgranda
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6 minutes ago, Disc Potato said:

FFS man.

read what I said. The previous manager spoke to him about his attitude. The current manager spoke to him about his attitude. He wanted to leave and the current manager offered to drive him back. He returned to Dundee so please move on.

He hasn’t played much since joining Forfar was all I was saying. 

 

I read what you said. Your audience can decide for themselves, on the evidence of the lad's performances, whether he was treating playing for Berwick as just a kick about with his mates. They can also make what they want of your throw away speculation about Forfar. I will simply repeat my comment that your post is incorrect, except for the fact that he did ask to leave. Like the manager who signed him asked to leave. And like, it seems, a few other players. Question your sources.

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As you walk down your local high street and you see signs like “shop local” and “use it or you’ll lose it” does that not smack a bit of what the real issue is behind the failings of berwick Rangers?

Can anyone tell me what sort of scouting network Berwick has? As it sure as hell looks like they don’t look anywhere local!

Im sure all supporters would rather see 17 local lads showing passion and fight, than what’s currently on offer.

For me there has been a major flaw in the model and structure at berwick Rangers for years.

With such a vast area like the borders and north Northumberland to pick up players from, then this has to of been where scouting was taking place and not what has happened for years bringing players in from Edinburgh and afar. I know for a fact that good players that would of gave there right hand to play for berwick over the years were never even looked at or thought about. 

Take a look at a local lad now called Jack Hamilton, why was he not snapped up a few years ago before Livingston came sniffing. Yes he played for half a season and ended up top scorer but why was he not at berwick for two or three seasons and then sold on for a good wee profit? 

Im going to answer my own question really and it’s all down to how local football is perceived by berwick and the managers they appoint. Simply they don’t have any knowledge of lads that play in the local and surrounding areas and are not willing to look.

Before anyone says “what about Brydon” yes I know he’s local and yes he’s a good player but there is also another 3 or 4 local lads that play that position that are as good or better in my opinion.

Berwick Rangers really need to start looking closer to home, set a structure up that sees youngsters going up through the levels required and eventually playing for the club they love. With all the clubs in the area ranging from youth to amateur to semi-pro it’s not to difficult to get something setup so these players don’t end up being overlooked and ultimately end up playing with there mates at the Stanks.

All that said I do wish Berwick all the best and really do hope the manage to stay in the league for next season 

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9 minutes ago, Hugo said:

I read what you said. Your audience can decide for themselves, on the evidence of the lad's performances, whether he was treating playing for Berwick as just a kick about with his mates. They can also make what they want of your throw away speculation about Forfar. I will simply repeat my comment that your post is incorrect, except for the fact that he did ask to leave. Like the manager who signed him asked to leave. And like, it seems, a few other players. Question your sources.

I have said what I was told directly.

FYI this is what I sent to the incoming manager

Cedwyn Scott (Striker) On loan from Dundee. Quick, takes up good positions and knows where the net is. Like him. 

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Said to someone a couple months back I thought maybe Berwick could be in trouble.  Rovers were showing some signs of getting themselves a little bit better organized while you seemed to be in freefall.  It still doesn't excuse our absolute shambles of an admin error which obviously gave Rovers an immediate further shot in the arm,  but I hope both our teams win their respective playoffs.
Us for obvious reasons, but in your case, Cove are one of maybe only two HL teams who actually want to come up, are run by a sugar daddy, get a nice little additional earner for use of their pitch for Aberdeen's reserves and youth teams, and will add absolutely nothing to what's already in the division.


Who’s Cove’s sugar daddy?
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4 minutes ago, Disc Potato said:

I have said what I was told directly.

FYI this is what I sent to the incoming manager

Cedwyn Scott (Striker) On loan from Dundee. Quick, takes up good positions and knows where the net is. Like him. 

To be clear, the first manager told you directly? And then the second manager told you directly? That he has a bad attitude such that he treats it like a kick about with his mates? 

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