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Clyde v Dumbarton


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10 minutes ago, squeezeboxson said:

I completely agree. The aforementioned Montrose are the perfect example of exactly this. I'm not too clued up on budgets but there can't be much between most of the side from mid League 1 downwards. But I think it is fair to say QP being full time and having guys like Simon Murray, Louis Longridge and Jai Quitongo in their attack probably means they have a bigger budget than most part time teams in the country.

 

Should add in: the years we spent in the championship completely backed up the point you are making. Not many of our fans would argue that the biggest budget means success. We watched a number of teams drop out of the championship whilst we stayed up. Glory days... 😥

What’s the Championship?

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Given how long we were without football, I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think I’m ready for the season to finish. Given how little I’ve felt immersed by Pixelott from the get go, coupled by how rubbish we have been this season, I’d happily give up the football and start again in August, hopefully with fans in, and just enjoy what ever league we end up in. It has been a brutal year all round.

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Gorman. Petkov. Allison.Lyon.Ferns. Duffie. Darren smith. Wallace. Johnston. Darren smith. Cunnigham. Bain. Wylde. Mcniff on 2yr deal. Releasing Nicoll but now good enough year older n slower cause he never replaced him & returning a RB to centre midfield who wasnt good enough to play that role in a lower league...

DL is wonderful person who ive met personally on several occasions. Speaks well and great abassador for club, however thats a LOT of budget burnt and he has to carry the can for HIS signings

Tonight was our chance. We blew it

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The tiredness excuse doesn't wash with me at all. 

1. We could easily have gone out of the cup and ensured tonight's game was actually on Saturday. 

2. We could easily have made more than one change for the Falkirk game, what with it coming less than 48 hours after Forfar. It was absolutely no surprise that we ended up making a triple change at half-time after an awful first half.

3. The likelihood of any points from Falkirk/Thistle was low. We could easily have prioritised tonight. In fact, we did, by resting so many v Thistle. That said, why we started Goodwillie against both is beyond me.

4. We've played one more game than Dumbarton (just one), with a bigger squad.

 

I said after a run of decent performances and results (v Montrose, Peterhead, Ayr) that we'd need to do something different against teams who would give us a bit more possession. We got out of jail a bit against Forfar because of Goodwillie's brilliance and their resultant throwing in of the towel.

Managers at this level aren't stupid; they know you can give Rumsby and Nicoll (and Howie if he's in midfield) as much time as they want and they'll slowly play sideways or try a long pass that they're not capable of. Or even better, close them down and their attempt to play the ball will turn into a tackle. They know if you close Love down then he'll punt the ball towards Goodwillie (sometimes to good effect, on many occasions it's an instant loss of possession).  We've seen it all before in League 2, when we spent several months playing Ray Grant at left back. The minute we paired him and McStay in midfield, we became the best team in the league because Rumsby was the only real weak link in possession (and that included our goalkeeper).

If we're playing Nicoll in midfield (and there's been some value to that, more than most would have thought), then we need Thomson and Cuddihy and hopefully a reinvigorated Lamont in there, and we need to play Lang and Howie at centre back (with McNiff the first replacement). There wasn't much disagreement with the starting eleven tonight necessarily, but I don't think anyone could envisage us putting Otoo in midfield, Love at full-back, or playing Nicoll/Howie as a midfield pairing with Cuddihy stuck out on the right. Then just shelling long balls in no particular direction. By all means, we are nowhere near as good as we were in L2 but we need to be a bit braver against the sides that we'll face post-split.

Incidentally, that was one of the most ridiculously one-paced starting line-ups we've ever put out. Cunningham and Lang are about the only two we have who can beat someone for pace. Maybe Otoo. You can see the difference Crossan made in gaining a few cheap set pieces because he was direct.

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7 hours ago, David W said:

The tiredness excuse doesn't wash with me at all. 

1. We could easily have gone out of the cup and ensured tonight's game was actually on Saturday. 

2. We could easily have made more than one change for the Falkirk game, what with it coming less than 48 hours after Forfar. It was absolutely no surprise that we ended up making a triple change at half-time after an awful first half.

3. The likelihood of any points from Falkirk/Thistle was low. We could easily have prioritised tonight. In fact, we did, by resting so many v Thistle. That said, why we started Goodwillie against both is beyond me.

4. We've played one more game than Dumbarton (just one), with a bigger squad.

 

I said after a run of decent performances and results (v Montrose, Peterhead, Ayr) that we'd need to do something different against teams who would give us a bit more possession. We got out of jail a bit against Forfar because of Goodwillie's brilliance and their resultant throwing in of the towel.

Managers at this level aren't stupid; they know you can give Rumsby and Nicoll (and Howie if he's in midfield) as much time as they want and they'll slowly play sideways or try a long pass that they're not capable of. Or even better, close them down and their attempt to play the ball will turn into a tackle. They know if you close Love down then he'll punt the ball towards Goodwillie (sometimes to good effect, on many occasions it's an instant loss of possession).  We've seen it all before in League 2, when we spent several months playing Ray Grant at left back. The minute we paired him and McStay in midfield, we became the best team in the league because Rumsby was the only real weak link in possession (and that included our goalkeeper).

If we're playing Nicoll in midfield (and there's been some value to that, more than most would have thought), then we need Thomson and Cuddihy and hopefully a reinvigorated Lamont in there, and we need to play Lang and Howie at centre back (with McNiff the first replacement). There wasn't much disagreement with the starting eleven tonight necessarily, but I don't think anyone could envisage us putting Otoo in midfield, Love at full-back, or playing Nicoll/Howie as a midfield pairing with Cuddihy stuck out on the right. Then just shelling long balls in no particular direction. By all means, we are nowhere near as good as we were in L2 but we need to be a bit braver against the sides that we'll face post-split.

Incidentally, that was one of the most ridiculously one-paced starting line-ups we've ever put out. Cunningham and Lang are about the only two we have who can beat someone for pace. Maybe Otoo. You can see the difference Crossan made in gaining a few cheap set pieces because he was direct.

David, as ever a very articulate piece and you make many good points.

The only thing i absolutely disagree with is your comment on the tiredness. It was clear the boys were leggy almost from the start........Tues/Thurs games for the past few weeks have taken a huge toll. It's too much and even the fittest of our players find this incredibly punishing. It's muscles, it's strains not having time to repair, not just that the boys are tired.....although I know of one who was up at 6 yesterday to work a full shift and drove straight to Broadwood and changed in the back of his works van before reporting to Broadwood. And this schedule is set to continue.

The SFA would have been all over the Club if they'd "thrown" the Kieth game......they'll be all over us if we put out a seriously weakened team at St Johnstone.

So, let's debate next season - wherever it is we will be playing.

Way forward? Let our recruitment team do just that and provide Danny Lennon with a squad to coach and manage?

Sack him and pay him a years wages (contracted until end of next season)?

Who do we bring in that could work with the lowest budget (most likely) in league 1 or an average one in league 2 (I've run out of eggs Haufdaft).

Provide Danny Lennon with a substantial budget and judge him on that?

It's OUR Club apparently, are we happy? Yet again of course we are not....but what should we do?

 

 

 

 

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9 hours ago, Scott-Replay said:

Given how long we were without football, I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think I’m ready for the season to finish. Given how little I’ve felt immersed by Pixelott from the get go, coupled by how rubbish we have been this season, I’d happily give up the football and start again in August, hopefully with fans in, and just enjoy what ever league we end up in. It has been a brutal year all round.

I’ve been thinking this for a while. Mostly down to the fact we’ve not been able to go to games and the season was postponed for a while. The fact we are absolutely shite isn’t helping either tbh.

Edited by BullyWeeStonehouse
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9 hours ago, shawfield shed boy said:

Gorman. Petkov. Allison.Lyon.Ferns. Duffie. Darren smith. Wallace. Johnston. Darren smith. Cunnigham. Bain. Wylde. Mcniff on 2yr deal. Releasing Nicoll but now good enough year older n slower cause he never replaced him & returning a RB to centre midfield who wasnt good enough to play that role in a lower league...

DL is wonderful person who ive met personally on several occasions. Speaks well and great abassador for club, however thats a LOT of budget burnt and he has to carry the can for HIS signings

Tonight was our chance. We blew it
 

1 of him was bad enough!

Of the players out of contract at the end of this season (not counting Lang as he's already away), there isn't a single one I think "we definitely need to keep him". Few maybes (Wilson looks a decent backup GK from his 2 outings,  Love, maybe Howie/Munro/Cuddihy but if we can recruit better then probably not, Cunningham at a push as he was playing well in his loan spell so definitely has ability, just needs to show it more). I would be stunned if any of the rest get another gig in this division after moving on from us. Indeed the players in your list no longer with us are all now playing well below this level. Think it's only Wallace who's still in the SPFL and even at that he only rejoined Annan recently after a spell at some pub team in Airdrie. 

As David said, last nights line up was what most of us wanted/expected but some of the tactical tweaks were bizarre. I see absolutely no positive in having Otoo and Love switched around. The former looks our best left back for years and the latter is about our only other source of doing anything positive in the final third after Goodwillie. 

Edited by C. Muir
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9 hours ago, Scott-Replay said:

Given how long we were without football, I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think I’m ready for the season to finish. Given how little I’ve felt immersed by Pixelott from the get go, coupled by how rubbish we have been this season, I’d happily give up the football and start again in August, hopefully with fans in, and just enjoy what ever league we end up in. It has been a brutal year all round.

Agree totally.  It's been absolute crap. Non attendance being the main reason. Watching on TV makes it so bloody soulless. 

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I thought we were good last night and thoroughly deserved the three points. I don't know if it was having the Tuesday off or what, but straight from the start we played with a bit of confidence in Clyde's half and looked a threat.

Big Robert Jones caused problems and, since the Aberdeen game, he's impressed me. He's very much a defensive forward. He'll defend from the front and clearly won't score goals - but as Squeezebox said, Wilson struggled with the same sort of service for the small time he was on. Layne is obviously our best striking option - but with him out, Jones is doing a decent job of playing that sort of role.

We got Frizzell and Crossan into the game and it's the best PJ has played all season. He tormented Marky Munro at times - especially in the first-half and looked so direct. It was an incredible change from his woeful showing up at Cove on Saturday.

Rico's return has nicely balanced our defence, and Sam Wardrop looked back to himself after a slack couple of showings against East Fife and Cove. 

I thought our midfield were excellent and totally dominated Clyde. Forbes, Wedderburn and especially No Nonsense Nick McAllister were hammering into tackles, putting themselves about and really imposed themselves on the game. They grabbed Clyde by the throat and bashed their pretty footballing face in.

Nick McAllister was described as "a horrible wee player" by one of the Clyde officials behind me in the second-half and I loved that. He's a right nasty guy on the park, cuts about with a swagger and is hard as nails. I think he's fantastic and I'd be delighted to see us try and bring him back next season. He worked well as the legs alongside Nat and Forbes too - with Nat's passing sublime at times.

Our star men were Ryan McGeever and Morgyn Neill though. As mentioned earlier in the thread, McGeever always seems to do well against Goodwillie - and he dominated him all game. Morgyn ended up with stitches after the match, but still headered everything that came near him. The development of both players compared to where they were when they first arrived is incredible. I'd be chucking extended deals at them.

As for Clyde? They destroyed us in the first-half of the Betfred game with quick, sharp passing. So naturally they spent most of the game playing long balls - and then stuck big Tom Lang up top for some serious route one football, which our defence will happily deal with all day long.

Lang, to his credit, caused a few problems with his power and strength in the air. But he's quite clearly a centre-half. His finishing was wild and he really just ran about wherever the ball went. I like Danny Lennon a lot - both as a man and a manager - but that was some horribly desperate stuff.

Their only shining light for me was David Wilson in goals. He's very small, but I thought he commanded his area really well, has a good leap on him, his decision making was positive and brave and his distribution was good. He looked very comfortable showing for passes and, for a young guy with little experience, looked really confident. I'm a massive David Mitchell fan, but Wilson looks a very promising talent.

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It has been brought to my attention by some fellow Clyde fans that would appear my name and even my occupation has been brought up on a post on this thread. I can 100% confirm I am Graham M and work for Sky. I have been involved with the club in various capacities for a few years now and that's why I stopped posting on Pie and Bovril and very occasionally on official site.

 

I didn't feel it was appropriate to post opinions whilst involved with the club and even though my club responsibilities have greatly diminished, I'm pretty much of that same opinion. As per another post I also received a notification that my LinkedIn profile had been viewed recently, but that's what its there for, even though I don't use it much. More than happy to discuss anything with anyone on here as long as it's constructive.

 

Mon the Clyde!

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Just now, Clyde4life said:

It has been brought to my attention by some fellow Clyde fans that would appear my name and even my occupation has been brought up on a post on this thread. I can 100% confirm I am Graham M and work for Sky. I have been involved with the club in various capacities for a few years now and that's why I stopped posting on Pie and Bovril and very occasionally on official site.

 

I didn't feel it was appropriate to post opinions whilst involved with the club and even though my club responsibilities have greatly diminished, I'm pretty much of that same opinion. As per another post I also received a notification that my LinkedIn profile had been viewed recently, but that's what its there for, even though I don't use it much. More than happy to discuss anything with anyone on here as long as it's constructive.

 

Mon the Clyde!

PS - I have some friends and family codes for Sky ;)

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43 minutes ago, Jan Vojáček said:

Their only shining light for me was David Wilson in goals. He's very small, but I thought he commanded his area really well, has a good leap on him, his decision making was positive and brave and his distribution was good. He looked very comfortable showing for passes and, for a young guy with little experience, looked really confident. I'm a massive David Mitchell fan, but Wilson looks a very promising talent.

You're absolutely right. He's been on the only positive of the last couple of games. Had one rush of blood at the Thistle game where he came out and ended up getting rounded but he got back well to make the save. 

Speaking of backup keepers, was that Jamie Barclay on the Dumbarton bench last night? 

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3 minutes ago, C. Muir said:

You're absolutely right. He's been on the only positive of the last couple of games. Had one rush of blood at the Thistle game where he came out and ended up getting rounded but he got back well to make the save. 

Speaking of backup keepers, was that Jamie Barclay on the Dumbarton bench last night? 

I'm glad to see a smaller 'keeper being given a chance too. Far too often clubs just look at height and build, so it says a lot about his talent that he's made it this far when he doesn't have those on his side. His handling was really clean all night.

It was indeed. Signed on an emergency loan from Kilwinning Rangers the other week when Chris Smith left.

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I think that's a right good summary above, Jan. I rewatched the second half of the game last night because one of the other Dumbarton supporters took me up on my comment about Dumbarton sitting deep in the second half. On reflection, my perspective was clearly skewed by the last ten minutes of the game. In truth it was like you say: Dumbarton's work-rate, physicality and anticipation of Clyde shone through the whole night. When we had the ball, Dumbarton had numbers behind it very quickly and got right on our case in midfield. And the defenders you mention played without a lot of space between them, making robust interventions if ever we tried a through ball or tried to bounce something off of Goodwillie.

I would repeat the point that Dumbarton closed up on us really effectively. That's why, as a decision in isolation, I can understand Lang being moved up front. From the off, we should've done things differently. But having played our hands as we have since Saturday, it was clear that we weren't going to play through you as we have in games gone by. Nothing about the team that started on the night or players coming off the bench made me think so at any rate.

On the point of tiredness or fitness. I don't know a thing about sports science and I certainly haven't played so many games in a short period myself...! But although we only had one more game this week than Dumbarton, another way of looking at it is that Dumbarton had four solid days of rest, whereas Clyde had one going into last night, having played on Tuesday at Firhill. My intuition given the look of our players last night tells me that the rest days were significant. However, as someone else mentioned, we do have a very large squad and have been working a bit of a rota. I think in terms of that rota, our team selection and tactics since Falkirk we've been getting it wrong to be honest. Players like Goodwillie and Love haven't been used sparingly enough, for example. And you wonder what point there's been in having Hosler and Butteworth from Rangers; they've barely played.

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