Sweet Pete

Chapman pulling the old Jim Jefferies trick of signing only players he's worked with previously at other clubs.

See him most days. Cracking winger-cum-striker for us in Division Three and his performance in the 5-0 win against Berwick at home as well as in the aforementioned win v Elgin that effectively wrapped up the title were awesome. Him on one wing and Stevie Murray on the other was a joy to watch. That 08/09 team was awesome. Surprised he's playing Junior, but good luck to him. I'll maybe get along and see how he does at some point.

Yeah, it's that. Was only the vomiting blood that had me reaching for the phone, not the virus itself.

Oh, hang on, is it HIV, is that the gag? My brain is mince currently.

Nope, still not getting you, palomino. Admittedly though, I'm not functioning at full capacity.

You've completely lost me, fella-mate.

Finally got seen at 4am. Discharged home at 5.30am. Some kind of highly contagious D and V bug. Wife and kid now have it too. Got some IV fluids and anti sickness injection, not seeing much difference to be honest.

Vomited blood at about 9pm and got ambulanced to hospital. Been waiting hours and still not been seen yet.

Pete Jnr likes to give me a diving headbutt to my head or back when I'm sleeping.

The county of West Ayrshire is under the sea between Troon and Millport.

Reckon I might have bad AIDS. Feel like Tom Hanks' character in Philadelphia.

Got a bug as has the nipper. Sleepless nights and feeling crap. Think the trip to Ibrox yesterday is to blame, reckon I've caught an infection from the tramps in Govan. However, I bought some Moray Cup from Asda last night and it's quite nice, so pluses and minuses.

Absolutely spot on, mate. Our chairman was cherrypicking to suit his agenda and, as I said earlier in the thread in my summary of the meeting, he contradicted himself by saying this is a one off season but then basing his reasoning on Cowden's larger capacity for this season. The more I think over the points the DFC representatives made on the night, the more sure I am that they're completely wrong to be pursuing this move and I hate to be fed bullshit.

I reckon the physical location is further. I've mocked this wee image up.

7/10 today. Got 1, 8 & 10 wrong.

My favourite bit about the Board getting us promoted was when Gilbert Lawrie scored the winning goal in the playoff final.

Do you really think that a dying man, having spent his last day on Earth with his grandson, gave a shit about what league he had just watched a football game in minutes before the end of his life?

That's a really sad story, but what has the league that Dumbarton are in got to do with it?

The Asset Strip Arena.

This "we're noisey neighbours" line doesn't wash with me. The club has been at that site for 13 years and those new houses have only been there for about 5ish. The fact is that if the tenants had concerns about the noise or traffic then they shouldn't have bought a house on the road next to a football stadium. To turn around years after our ground has been built and say "the new houses think we're too loud so we'll need to move" just doesn't work. The vast majority of football stadiums are built amongst houses.

I addressed my concerns about the full time idea in another of my posts on the previous page.

Another thing I've just remembered, the chairman seemed to contradict himself when saying that Alloa and Cowden pay better wages / bonuses than us, but then saying that we have offered players more than full time wages but they've preferred to stay full time for less. Additionally, Cowden offered Scott Linton and Colin Nish contracts when we signed them, so if Cowden's wages / bonuses are better, how come those two play for us?

Another, smaller, point which I'm not sold on is the idea of a supporters bar at the new ground which is open 7 days a week and will generate income. The fact is that the new stadium is away from housing and transport and the town centre and is therefore unlikely to be used except for match days. If the idea is to increase revenue by keeping the bar open all the time then it'll quickly be a case of costing money to keep the lights on and the staff on shift when there's no-one using it. But that's for years down the line and not nearly as important as the bigger issues. In terms of populating all of the new "land parcels" that generate commercial revenue on the new stadium site prior to the club making a move, that could literally take years to achieve as we have seen with the Artizan, Lomondgate and St James' Retail Park. If, as Gilbert Lawrie suggests, the club will not move at all until every single commercial contract is signed to fill these units then the club could be waiting a very long time.

From the chairman's comments: “People ask why get bigger when the ground is only half full. Alloa and Cowdenbeath will make £180,000 more than Dumbarton will this season because of the games they have. “It’s not about the size of the stadium – it’s about the facilities. We need more than season ticket money and gate money and right now we don’t have more than that." Surely he's contradicting himself there? It either is about the stadium attendances for this very rare season, or it isn't. So which is it? He also never answered me when I asked him that. “To turn the key in our current stadium, and keep it running, is costing £75,000 to £100,000 a year, and it will get worse before it gets better." He made this fairly bombastic statement about running costs for the current stadium, but never answered me when I asked him about this either. As for his statements about the club going full time (or quasi full-time, as he corrected himself to), where has the number of "within 4 seasons" come from? Also, based on the information we were given last night, full time status would only be achievable by staying in the Championship and big clubs with big away supports being in there with us every season plus constant use of the additional income stream facilities at the new ground. If we have a rough year and don't get much use out of the gyms, hotels etc and there are no "big" clubs in the Championship one season then our own crowds would not sustain full time football, so that's a concern. Additionally, he stated that we already pay more than double the season ticket and gate receipts on the wage bill currently, but that players are complaining that Alloa and Cowdenbeath pay bigger bonuses and bigger basic salaries. Now, to be honest, I don't really believe that, but taking it as true, my response would be to tell the players to find employment elsewhere and replace them with others who'd be happy to play for our wages, which are more than ample. I asked him about this and said that we, as supporters, are more likely to be satisfied with a team playing at a lower level (if need be) and a secure future than to stay in a higher league paying wages which he himself says we can't really afford, but again he never really answered that. He said repeatedly that we need to move or we will slip down the leagues. I just don't really believe it, nor does the concept really concern me, because leagues work two ways, not just up and no club can stay up forever just by throwing money at the wage bill and building new commercial facilities to sustain full time football on part time crowds.

St Mirren? ;-)