Relegation Play-offs; Cove v. Berwick

[PELE]

53 minutes ago, Hampden Diehard said:

11 hours ago, jamamafegan said:

Good. Scottish football is evolving into a different animal just now and it’s a good thing. More competitiveness and more progressiveness.

Indeed. Celtic going for 20 titles in a row very soon and all Scottish teams crashing out of Europe to teams without a vowel in their name ... ..... but Cove are in. Not really very much change or evidence of evolving into something better. Sorry to be so downbeat.

Totally agree. Encouraging a non league team to splash the cash for a shot at a play-off to get in League 2 is hardly evolving the game. The same stale league set up, playing each other umpteen times a season and youth football seems to be going backwards.

[As Easterly as it gets!]

1 hour ago, Aberdeen Cowden said:

Rory was one of the wise ones. A decent job and a part time deal is always going to be better than a full time deal at teams like St Mirren and United. Most players don’t have very long careers anyway.

Indeed. As a rule I dont read books on sport, but someone many years ago suggested I read Des Mckeown's one on football, and part time football in particular.

Des had an above average thought process in comparison to most footballers. He said many of his team mates at the time thought it was more important to be known as a 'professional footballer', even though they were on average wages.

Well worth a read. 

[McGuigan1978]

Will there be highlights of this game online at any point?

[parsforlife]

Des had an above average thought process in comparison to most footballers. He said many of his team mates at the time thought it was more important to be known as a 'professional footballer', even though they were on average wages.
Well worth a read. 

There is absolutely no doubt that a large number of full time players(and even some part-timers ‘at-it’) absolutely love being able to go into sub-par local nightclubs and pick up dense girls with ‘I’m a footballer’

That your day consisting of 2 hours training get your lunch made for you and maybe an hour at the gym before spending the rest of the day playing fifa or hanging out at Starbucks. Maybe on a busy day you’ll have some community engagement(school visits etc) when you’ll again be able to boost your ego.

As long as your being payed enough to cover a discounted bmw lease, some blond hair dye and a shared flat then many will be absolutely delighted. Maybe a couple of win bonuses to pay for some shite tattoos.

[Glenconner]

Hardly the end of the world Berwick Rangers dropping into the Lowland League. The LL is just another East of Scotland League with a couple of faintly westie teams in it, so travel is hardly a problem.

[cowdenbeath]

8 minutes ago, parsforlife said:

 

There is absolutely no doubt that a large number of full time players(and even some part-timers ‘at-it’) absolutely love being able to go into sub-par local nightclubs and pick up dense girls with ‘I’m a footballer’

That your day consisting of 2 hours training get your lunch made for you and maybe an hour at the gym before spending the rest of the day playing fifa or hanging out at Starbucks. Maybe on a busy day you’ll have some community engagement(school visits etc) when you’ll again be able to boost your ego.

As long as your being payed enough to cover a discounted bmw lease, some blond hair dye and a shared flat then many will be absolutely delighted. Maybe a couple of win bonuses to pay for some shite tattoos.

 

Snowflake generation back in the day it would have been to the pub for an afternoon session

[Scorge]

1 hour ago, McGuigan1978 said:

Will there be highlights of this game online at any point?

Berwexit fans, look away now:

 

https://youtu.be/nZs6_Nsg50U

 

[Redcar]

54 minutes ago, Scorge said:

Berwexit fans, look away now:

 

https://youtu.be/nZs6_Nsg50U

 

Jesus. Knew we couldn't play football, didn't realise we struggle to stay upright. 

[peternapper]

A fair reflection on the game even showed Berwicks one clear cut chance, a couple scrambled goals for Cove but could have had another 3 or 4.

[Le Tout P'ti FC]

Where is this Oor Wullie chippy and does it serve Broons Sauce?

[DA Baracus]

3 hours ago, Scorge said:

Berwexit fans, look away now:

 

https://youtu.be/nZs6_Nsg50U

 

The 1st and 3rd goals 

[Ivo den Bieman]

I actually saw Peterhead-Berwick back in the autumn at Balmoor, when Horn was still in charge. They lost 0-1 that day and were a touch unlucky not to take a point.

Astonishing how bad they are now, six months later. I think that team would struggle in the Lowland League.

I know Berwick have one or two absolute wallopers as followers but I do feel sorry for them. It's a lovely town and a good day out. A shame to see them go in some ways, and it will be a very long way back.

[Blue Oktober]

43 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

The 1st and 3rd goals 

Thought the same #SelfHarm

[Mon_The_Fife]

If it wasn’t for Goodfellow, that could have been a whole lot more embarrassing. Berwick look absolute muck.

[Alert Mongoose]

4 hours ago, Scorge said:

Berwexit fans, look away now:

 

https://youtu.be/nZs6_Nsg50U

 

I can't be the only one disappointed that it turned out to be a football game they were showing after that intro music... 

[Chris_the_rover]

That park is some state

 

The amount of rubber on the park

[HibeeJibee]

22 hours ago, Dead said:

Bad as it's not diving off a cliff . The next day comes and the club goes on albeit at a different level and with different goals. I don't remember 1 Shire fan having this RIP attitude to our misfortune dropping put of the Scottish league 3 seasons ago.

I have huge time and affection for Berwick Rangers, no matters what happens next week the fans have to get behind the club next season. That's what fans are best at are they ? Life doesn't end for the club at the Scottish Leagues.

 

22 hours ago, Dead said:

No one here can tell you how bad you are feeling and how you and the club can come back from it. They don't understand and have no real words to help you at this moment.  The only thing is the club is still here and from that the hope is there that a turnaround can happen. It's at this point you find out who the real fans and friends of the club are. 

As a whitehill fan said to us when we came down , there is life outside the Scottish League.

I think everyone must accept that it will take some time for fans to adjust themselves to new mindsets. Indeed no doubt some will find it too much and not want to. Home turnout will go down etc.

It's especially difficult as (rightly or wrongly) there's a longstanding attitude that sees Berwick as a "world above" the other Border clubs, saw the City Cup as a bit of a joke and so on. Now we will be playing Gala and Vale in the league, playing a qualifying cup to get into the City Cup and so on... Many fans see facing unis, Edusport, BSCG, Civil Service etc. as a horrific fall from grace.

On the other hand even a terrible cloud may have some silver consolations. We've never had a 'Border derby'. We haven't won more games than we've lost since lifting SFL3 back in 2006-07, leading to creeping disillusion. We've never played in a cup final at a neutral venue. (It's interesting 'Shire reached their first such in 60yrs yesterday). All become possible, albeit some will say "aye but it's only the diddy leagues".

I think certain factors might soften the shock a bit. We'll be playing in the League Cup groupstage as usual in mid/late July; the Challenge Cup will follow in August (not that it's anything to get excited about nowadays - but it's familiar); the Scottish Cup R2 will arrive in October then 2 wins puts you in R4. Many grounds are known (Ainslie Park, Broadwood, Recreation Park, Falkirk, Forthbank, Galabank). Several others aren't as basic as many think (Kelty, Gala, Gretna). Names like Spartans, East Stirlingshire, Kelty, East Kilbride, maybe Bonnyrigg, aren't unfamiliar/underwhelming.

I can't see it being anything else than a scarring and profoundly shocking experience though. Just a few old men remember Berwick before the Scottish League. It's all anyone has ever known.

Edited May 12, 2019 by HibeeJibee

[berwick-the-unbeatable]

Wanted to leave it a day till commenting and probably the right decision as I spent yesterday morning in particular seething. Some of the comments on here have surprised me - one player in particular being given passmarks who for me couldn't have made it any clearer he'd given up. Some who played were trying, but blatantly lacked the quality to compete. Others with slightly more quality simply hiding, putting in 50% and letting those around them down entirely - let alone the decent, vocal and supportive fans that made the journey. 

That said, I thought the Barr spat at the end was pretty disappointing. Him and Cook both should have started, but came off the bench and were the only two with the bollocks to actually front it up. I echo what has been said - the tie might be over but Brownlie and Yano need to pick a better team and take a different approach this weekend - and yes, this is entirely indicative of why waiting so long to shift Harvey was idiotic. I dread to think what the result would have been with that c**t in charge. 

In all, a deserved pummelling and relegation. To fans offering condolences thank you and to those ripping the piss, fair play - it's give and take. For me, the manner in which all this has came about leaves a fairly bitter taste, but now focus needs to switch to finding the right way forward as dwelling on the 'what could have beens' will not change a thing. I don't think it could be any more blatant that the right way isn't going to be under the current structure and leadership, but the longer such uncertainty goes on, the more damage we do. While our new Lowland competition are already announcing decent signings, we don't even know who's going to be in charge of the team. Our best chance to return to the league is going to be in Year 1 - after that we are extremely vulnerable financially.

As for what L2 fans can expect, I thought it was a decent little day. It's a bit 'plastic' - goals that were winning them promotion to league football seemed under-celebrated etc, but the folk were sound to speak to. Stonehaven was a great stop en-route and the bar at the ground decent enough too. Perhaps it's just because it's 'something new' but it wasn't as bad as folk made out, and I can only imagine it's shite if you don't take a decent group up - then again, the bus probably helped. We won't miss out though, there'll be plenty of chances for us to see something new next season. 

[JakeSAFC]

Pleasing. Doon ye go.

[peternapper]

15 hours ago, Chris_the_rover said:

That park is some state

 

The amount of rubber on the park

Pot calling the kettle black, don't know if you have been there yet or just looked at the highlights, the pellets are quite noticeable but presume this will settle in time & the ball seems to roll across the surface ok unlike certain parks presently in use in League 2. For a potential league ground Coves seems to fit the bill for them at this time its maybe just a bit new & shiny for those more used to a demolition site in the waiting. Someone moaned about the amount of advertising boards around their ground but this should be seen as good commercial sense which some could learn from.