the_bully_wee

I wouldn't have been at all upset if we'd retained Erik Sula as a squad player, so that's an alright signing for Stirling. He won't blow your socks off as he has the odd hairy moment in him, but excellent aerially and no slouch.

I remember feeling a similar kind of buzz to DoingThe42 after we played Ayr off the park in the Challenge Cup a decade ago, in what was Barry Ferguson's first competitive match in charge. As a result, I'll be keeping my optimism firmly in check but McCall isn't Ferguson, Darren Lyon isn't David Gray, etc. We're still a wee bit short on height, but there are some horses-for-courses options when it comes to games that require it; Rennie starting, McKay in the middle, shovelling Dunachie in there somewhere. Left back obviously remains the big priority, but hopefully we'll see another striker and wide player (any whispers about Kabia?) in the door, plus perhaps a warm body who can cover CB if Peter Grant ends up departing. I wasn't there tonight but it's encouraging to hear reports of Connell and Redfern impressing. Encouraging to hear that we played good football as well, the situation and personnel obviously necessitated a bit more of a primitive approach last season but it'll be nice if we're entertained too.

Looks a bit Flynn Duffy-esque that number 16...

Grant and Rankin were still being flirted with at LB long after Stewart returned from his early-season injury that year. Following that, Lennon clearly didn't fancy the latter for some reason despite the former pair being very awkward solutions there. Cogill's injury up at Peterhead was the peculiar stroke of luck that kick-started the superb end to that season, with Lang finally given a shot in the middle and McNiff then shunted out to full-back. I doubt there will be, but I hope there isn't a repeat on the cards. We do now have a few options who have covered LB before to varying degrees of success (Lyon x2, Howie) so that buys us a bit of time in looking for a natural one that's up to snuff.

Ffs. More centre mids than Peterhead at this rate

Give me a left back or Jordan Allan, do not give me Cammy Ballantyne

I'm not arsed about missing out on Jack Leitch if we were indeed in for him, undoubtedly a fine player at this level and one who can play in a few roles but we've already got five players vying for three midfield spots in Cuddihy, R. Grant, R. Leitch, Docherty and McKay, with Hynes as a party piece and Scullion also able to play centrally in a pinch. If we were to bring in another central midfielder then it'd ideally be one that blows your socks off, or a forward-thinking one who can play wide/up front too. If we are taking P. Grant and McCulloch as personae non gratae then it's currently 16 signed, and probably 4 or 5 more to come in plus a warm body or two. Left back remains the big area of concern, but you'd imagine a couple of promising opportunities will come up between now and the start of the season.

That's essentially a raffle though and only half of the takings from it go to the club. It's not uncommon for clubs to have a ring-fenced pot that can be paid into to boost the playing budget and it's something we have done fruitfully before. I'm far more in favour of initiatives like that which allow those who can, and wish to, give more to do so rather than forcing everyone to cough up more. We keep hearing about how important the fans are at games and how big a role they played during the run-in and yet one of the first post-season moves is to risk stifling growth and turning the hardest-up ones away? It's one thing buying in and backing Maitland, but another entirely to cheerlead for every decision that's made. While respecting that he has a lot on his plate, a lack of communication between the decision makers and the fans has been a long-standing bone of contention and a more nuanced solution to this could've very easily been found had there been any kind of dialogue on the matter. I will concede, like others, that the season ticket offering is now more attractive than before (and I'd have been renewing mine in any scenario), but it's not like the club has even made a big song and dance over how much of a saving it represents, as they should have. It's the most exciting time to be a Clyde fan since 2018 and demand for season tickets will be at its highest since then, so it's disappointing that, instead of capitalising on the hype, this dampener has been put on it.

It's an (often temperamental) app on your phone called TicketCo Wallet, you get a personal QR code and use that to scan in to every game. If you're missing one you can take a screenshot and send it to someone else to save them remortgaging their house to pay in!

A cigarette packet figure of £400 a month is less than what we are paying the pointlessly retained Darren Hynes, for christ's sake. If the argument is really going to be "what's an extra few quid every few weeks", then why not increase it by a fiver? I'm sure we could all afford that every fortnight and that'd be about £40k more into the budget if we held on to everyone. It's strange to go cap in hand to fans after you've secured a six-figure annual donation to your playing budget, particularly when you've made a habit of urging fans to dig deep in order to fund your risible shite in the past. Even stranger, though, is making fans pay more rather than asking them to give more, without any kind of engagement or consultation. If they had instead created a playing budget fund that people could pay into, they'd get their precious milk up front as well. Other posters had it spot on; Gordon Thomson would be getting dog's abuse if he pulled this move with the same messaging and rightly so. Just because Maitland has been and will be great for the club doesn't mean that he should be beyond reprieve and we need to make him accountable for missteps he makes, of which this is clearly his first.

Just to put it into perspective, the amount the club is likely to make from increasing attendance prices won't even amount to what we were paying of Jordan Allan's wages last season. It is an absolute fallacy to suggest that it'll make a significant difference to the strength of our squad.

Assuming that we have 600 home fans on average (generous) with a split of 350 season tickets/250 walk-ups per game, then the price increases translate to an extra £16k over the course of the season. Going by what's been said previously, that's 10-15% of what the benefactor is giving us annually and probably less than 5% of our total budget for the season. Hardly the difference between building a squad fit for the Lowland League and one that can compete for promotion. You've also got to factor in Maitland's statement that the price of everything else on a matchday is going to increase as well. By all means repeat a previous trick and set up a ring-fenced fund to boost the playing budget that people can pay into should they be in a financial position to do so, but to considerably increase prices with what seems like no consultation is really poor stuff in a climate where plenty of folk are struggling to make ends meet. I've had several mates take an interest in Clyde and attend the odd game over the years and the thought of telling them they'll have to pay £19 to watch League Two football in that soulless hovel is already making me wince.

That's a belting signing and one I'd hoped we would be having a look at but, given he was under contract until 2025 at Cove and Burrell seems to be leaving them, felt it unlikely. ETA: £19 to get in is absolutely preposterous, by the way. £17 was already too much and this takes the biscuit. Not impressed!

Rob Jones seemed to do a turn for yourselves (as difficult as that is to believe) and, without seeing much of him, Mitch Taylor carried a bit of a threat. I can't properly articulate just how lightweight McDonald is. He doesn't possess the pace or technical ability to mitigate that and is therefore pretty useless out wide too. If he's bulked up considerably since I last saw him play in December then perhaps he will contribute meaningfully for Elgin, but I really can't see that being the case. Although he scored a couple of goals for Edinburgh, their situation towards the end of the season was a complete anomaly that's nigh on impossible to glean any wisdom from. What I will say is that he works hard, and given the fact he's just spent six months with Edinburgh it wouldn't surprise me if he was on peanuts. The offer of a two-year deal is very strange, however, and if he's been earmarked to replace Golding then it's not going to end well for Elgin.

Very weird signing, particularly given significantly better players who also aren't local have been let go. As Scott says, he's a decent finisher but has absolutely none of the physical attributes you require to succeed at this level. Would be shocked if his time with Elgin doesn't turn out to be a 1:1 replica of his Stranraer career.

Cammy "F" Ballantyne was, on the whole, deeply underwhelming throughout his spell at Clyde last season. He arrived with a big reputation after a protracted chase by McCall, both of which were justified given his strong loan spells with Montrose in League One in recent years. Generally, McCall deployed him as the advanced central midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 and he wasn't great, nor was he when given the opportunity to play deeper. He struck me as a bit of a fair-weather player and his standout quality was his work rate, much of that probably attributable to still training full-time with St. Johnstone. Seldom did he really take a game by the scruff of the neck as we probably expected of him, and all too often he made pretty simple errors in possession that largely prevented him from doing so. There's clearly a player somewhere in there and Dumbarton could do much worse, but I wouldn't regard it as a signing to be excited about and am not sure how well he'd adapt to playing part time and predominantly on that pitch. It's hard to foresee a midfield unit comprising he and Dumbarton's existing options having much balance about it, but maybe Faz has a up trick his sleeve that'll help thwart a hat-trick of L1 relegations. Tl;dr - the jury is out!

Not a particularly illuminating interview, but it's good to have further reinforcement of Maitland's desire to improve every area of the club. His face completely betrays him when he says that the target for next season is a top four finish, but I'm glad he's not coming out and saying what he's really thinking. It was slapstick stuff that last season's "promotion is the aim" rhetoric was still going beyond the point of it becoming clear that we were heading for oblivion. The decision to increase prices across the board is one which will live or die by the changes made on and off the field; unless things are evidently going to be significantly better on both counts, then doing so in this climate isn't the best of looks and might end up pricing some folk out. Need to service a budget that clearly carries the expectation of promotion somehow, though, so there's a gap to be bridged before a commercial overhaul is enacted. News of a red and black third kit being in the pipeline is good to hear and I hope that we end up using that more than the shocker of an away kit we've got lined up. Left back and striker now please!

Not really a relevant factor though, when it's the facility in question being critiqued. I doubt you'd find anyone with a grain of sanity who thinks Meadowbank is a halfway decent football facility from any viewpoint, never mind the spectator's. Back on topic, it's bizarre that Edinburgh haven't been able to very quickly fulfil these pretty rudimentary licensing requirements. Surely cutting their outgoings towards the end of last season as drastically as they did means they are financially stable enough for things to be much less shambolic than this?

Given that Edinburgh are also tenants, it actually qualifies Clyde fans perfectly in passing judgement. I understand that you have an ongoing obsession with our club, "Sergeant Wilson", but please think things through before letting your faecal inner monologue spray all over the forum.

I actually forgot for a moment that Tony Wallace is a complete haddy when it comes to playing above League Two, so that's a very fair point. If Shiels does sign up to Ian McCall's nut-cracking sledgehammer squad, however, then I can only envisage a Roberto Carlos-esque role for him.

In all seriousness, it wouldn't really surprise me if Clyde were able to offer more to Shiels than yourselves, even without our added muscle. You boys already have Greig Young, who seems to be highly-rated and presumably won't be on buttons. For us, left back is one of two priority areas for recruitment at the moment. Resigning Ruth and, if it so transpires, Gray and/or Orsi will also take up a fair bit more precious budget that it probably isn't sensible to fire into another left back, even if he can do a turn at CB and further forward. With all that said, it would be very funny if we are simply flinging about ruinous amounts and blowing good, honest clubs out of the water. Great for the heel narrative.

"Much more" to a pauper club like Dumbarton is probably a tenner a week, to be fair. Th€ Bull¥ W££ pull is likely to be the bigger factor.

Experienced striker Ross Clift has been invited to train with us with a view to earning a deal.

Bluenortherner, thank you.

Mick Kennedy a decade of financially doping clubs and all he has to show for it is a cup shock and a clutch of silverware with an amateur side on brown envelopes. A complete diddy. ETA: East Kilbride a decade of flinging the kitchen sink at it and still coming up short. A wee shame. At least their most prominent supporters will still be happy after Santa handed the trophy over to their big team today!