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the_bully_wee

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Posts posted by the_bully_wee

  1. 1 minute ago, The Minertaur said:

    Why should it be a pittance? If we had finished 5th last season then we'd have been justified in asking for more money?

    Swann has been an important player for us and we are well within our rights to offer him a contract. Every club in Scotland would do exactly what we've done. It's just unfortunate for us that Stenhousmuir have acted unprofessionally and it's messing Swann up. Not our fault and it would have been irresponsible of our board to have not seeked compensation.

    You'd be justified in asking for more money if he was demonstrably a first-choice player, rather than a second or third choice in his position within a poor side. I know he's popular among the support, but it's pretty obvious that Bollan doesn't rate him particularly highly, otherwise Blair Malcolm wouldn't be playing out of position to keep him on the bench. He wouldn't have played nearly as much this season if Talbot was fit, and as such any compensation should be minimal. It's a shame to see Cowdenbeath holding the player ransom given the contribution he's made to your club and the squad status he's had to endure. 

  2. 2 minutes ago, Brazilianlex said:

    the PFA and SFA need to be all over this and Stenny should be fined for a number of  rule breaches.

    Which rules have they breached, exactly? If anything, the PFA would come down on Cowdenbeath for trying to fence in a player who was his manager's third-choice in his preferred position at times this season. Swann clearly doesn't want to be with you any longer and is being priced out of moving by the club, despite not having agreed to a new contract.

    The common-sense outcome all-round would have been for Cowden to seek compensation to the tune of a few thousand pounds, not prohibitively high but also not a freebie either. It would be pretty cheap of Stenhousemuir not to pay a small four-figure sum for his services, which would amount to only a small proportion of their playing budget. Perhaps the clubs could even have come to a gentleman's agreement for Swann not to feature against Cowdenbeath next season, or some such. As it is, the boy's footballing career looks to be being held back by Cowdenbeath's excessive demands for an out-of-contract, bit-part player. Hopefully, for his sake, that won't be the case. 

     

  3. 5 minutes ago, Muzza81 said:

    You’re talking rubbish. Swann is a left sided player who was involved 28 times last season for us, that’s not a handful and shows he has use to us. I’m sure we would be delighted if he stayed on to provide balance and cover, he has opted to move on though, for whatever reason.

    If Stenny felt our ‘demands’ were unreasonable they could take it to a tribunal, no? Or are they concerned that what we asked for was fair they just didn’t want to pay anything. 

    Your previous post stating ‘for a bottom half team’ was really insightful though. Are bottom half teams not allowed to rotate youth players? 

    You just keep bashing on with all your conjecture and speculation to try and make a point though.

    He started about half your league games, and it would have been even less than that if not for Talbot's injury troubles. He was, of course, useful, but the point I'm making is that his squad player status  for a shite team should be reflected in relatively minor compensation being awarded/asked for.

    They could have taken it to a tribunal, but then they would have run the risk of the compensation being set at a ridiculous level close to what Cowdenbeath were asking for. 

    Again, I'm not saying they aren't. My point is that a development fee for a 21-year-old squad player at a bottom-half League Two club should be a pittance. 

    It's a tricky situation for all involved, and it's Cowdenbeath's prerogative to demand whatever they want, but the big loser in all this is the player and it's Cowden who are holding him back.

  4. 1 minute ago, Brazilianlex said:

    Surely the PFA will take up his case, the boy has been shafted by Stenny.

    If he's been shafted by anyone then it's Cowdenbeath, who have ostensibly offered him another contract solely to ensure that they are entitled to compensation should he move elsewhere, and then demanded an amount of it which Stenny deemed excessive. It's not a particularly good look for the club, and is the sort of thing which might make young players think twice before signing for you. Of course, this all depends on just how much Cowden demanded, but I can't imagine Stenny will have jettisoned the whole deal for the sake of a few grand.

  5. 3 minutes ago, The_Pit_Owns said:

    Swann played 28 games last season. 

    29 league starts in two full first-team seasons for a bottom-half side isn't a huge amount. In any case, it's not as if he was a key player for Cowdenbeath or even particularly highly thought of by the manager, so that should figure in limiting the amount of compensation due. 

    It's a shite situation for Swann, who will either now have to remain a player underneath a dino who doesn't rate him or continue elsewhere as an unpaid amateur through no fault of his own. He'd no doubt have been Stenhousemuir's first-choice and utilised in a manner which suited his strengths. 

  6. It's not very clear from the SFA's published Registration Procedures (or if it's provided for, I've missed it), but my understanding of it is that no compensation - or very little - would have been due if Swann rejected the contract Cowdenbeath had offered him and allowed his present deal to expire, and he would then have been free to sign for Stenhousemuir as a free agent without the need for compensation. It seems to me (though I could be wrong, and would be happily corrected) that it was the 'pre-contract' nature of the approach which means that compensation - either on terms agreed mutually by the clubs or, failing that, a tribunal - was due, as it is when a player under 24 is offered a new contract on the same (or better) terms by his parent club. 

    ETA: it's a terrible oversight from Stenhousemuir, but given Swann's lack of appearances over the past two seasons it's hard to imagine that a tribunal would rule in favour of awarding Cowdenbeath a large fee for a player who isn't exactly a young pup. Perhaps Stenny just don't feel it's worth the risk.

  7. 1 minute ago, The Moonster said:

    Sorry, I'm in Japan, pished on Sake and fed up with the negativity surrounding my wee team. Duffy has done a fine job for us and is signing c***s he trusts. McCluskey has done him a job every time he's signed him and I'll take that over the nonsense we've watched for two seasons now.

    Compare me to the Old Firm again though and I'll have your baws in a vice, sir.

    :lol: fair enough.

    For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure he'll have you safe, but I think you'll end up closer to ninth than fourth given how other teams are shaping up and the fact he's already started with the budget chat. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though, and a season of consolidation wouldn't be the worst thing given the ongoing issues RE: ownership and control. Stefan is a wee dick (taking a large signing-on fee at Peterhead, only to soon after "fall out of love with the game" and engineer a release and swift signing for Alloa) but like you say, he seems to be the Niko Kranjcar to Jim's Harry Redknapp. 

  8. 1 minute ago, The Moonster said:

    Possibly the biggest load of pish on this thread yet. You've got a rapist playing for you and you're here questioning attitudes. 

    Do all Dumbarton fans on P&B indulge in this Old Firm-esque level of whataboutery, or has 'The Moonster' just completely lost the plot for no reason here? It's been a long time since we've shared a division, so I would appreciate some views.

  9. Duffy is very much a manager who performs "to budget" - and he lets everyone know about it. It happened at Clyde, where he started off with very little - letting us know at every opportunity - and failed to attract any players, bar a few short-term loanees, of real quality. As his budget grew, we became incrementally better, but still relied on Duffy being able to positively coach rejects from teams in and around us. He often spoke of the club taking baby steps in its recovery - it's League Two, ffs - before eventually leading us to fourth place in his final season in charge. During one previous season, we were not miles off promotion play-off contention and he said on Clyde 1 SSB in January that we had no chance of making them :lol: 

    I do rate Duffy as a coach and manager, but he's pretty hopeless at attracting good players on a low-to-middling budget unless he lucks-out with loans or a stand-out young player (he brought in Declan Gallagher for a season at Clyde, who was a stand-out in a shite team). If he's bleating about resources already, then I can only imagine it'll be a season of looking down the way rather than upwards for Dumbarton.

    On Stefan McCluskey; despite his positive statistics, I've spoken to a couple of Pollok fans who are glad to see the back of him. His attitude has always been fairly questionable.

  10. 1 minute ago, Aufc said:

    It is absolutely ideal. We really need to make the most of this as other countries have. Genuinely couldnt care less if they dont sing the national anthem

     

    Well, aye, but I was meaning it's not ideal more in the sense that it would be far preferable to have bona fide Scots playing for us, where possible. I trust that Steve Clarke can and will stamp it out and create a more positive environment which players want to be a part of, but players such as Fredericks and clubs such as West Ham haven't exactly been easy to deal with for Scotland managers in the past decade or so.

  11. Fredericks would be a very good option for us; he is questionable defensively but competing at a good PL level, and is still quite young so should develop further under a very good manager. It's obviously not ideal having to look into guys who probably feel, at best, ambivalent about Scotland, but he's miles ahead of any other eligible right-back options we have and would solve that particular problem. He'd bring a really good balance with Robertson operating on the other side; Robertson/Fraser and Fredericks/Forrest would make us potent down both flanks.

  12. Clyde captain lead us to promotion will end with his picture up In the Arria
    end of [emoji16]
    interesting you don't have any critism of our wonderful goalie that Danny Lennon binned maybe that's what really annoyed you [emoji23]

    At this point I'm unsure whether it's complete ignorance or you're just P&B's most underrated wind-up merchant, but I'll bite and kill this off anyway:

    Screenshot_20190601-213009.jpg
  13. 2 minutes ago, HughieMc said:

    I’m sure there was no “ slagging”- although I realise you were making a point. Danny would have released Kev with grateful thanks, with dignity and with sensitivity.

    No need to underline or highlight any perceived shortcomings. 

    His influence in the dressing room, even when suspended or injured,  helped the squad massively through difficult times and on to promotion.

    Providing fans of his new club with unsolicited negative comments is nothing other than disrespectful and self indulgent.

     

    :lol:

  14. Just now, cfcuk said:

    who said he would be a stand out?
    but why come on and slag off a Clyde captain. good solid pro will do a job for Stirling end of

    as you say it's a Stirling thread

    Which pieces of "slagging" do you disagree with, exactly? That we played better without him, that he's not mobile, that we generally picked up better results when he didn't start? Ultimately, the biggest "slagging" was done by Danny Lennon, who released him; probably for the reasons several Clyde fans have outlined. Should we be sacking him for showing such disrespect to a promotion-winning captain?

    Like I've stated, I hope he does exceedingly well at Stirling, but - as we like to hear about our new signings - I am here offering my opinion on their signing of him. He certainly did well for us late in the season when brought on to stifle games in the closing stages and I've no doubt he's a smashing guy, but if Stirling are looking to win promotion then they'll need to be signing better players for their starting XI than Nicoll.

  15. 6 minutes ago, HughieMc said:

    Sick but not surprised surely......expecting a torrent for Tom Lang if he goes- 

    A complete lack of respect for Kevin- just let him move on with a bit of dignity instead of boring us all with your amateur insights.

    :lol: Lang was demonstrably one of our three best players by the season's end, whereas Nicoll was rightly on the bench because we were a far better team without him. It's strange that Currie wasn't offered such protection and adoration by some when he, unlike Nicoll, started virtually every game of that promotion season.

    It would be a lie to come on here and tell Stirling fans that Nicoll will be a stand-out for them; I am merely calling it how I see it. That doesn't mean I don't wish for him to thrive there. As with every player his name will go down in history as a member of the squad which earned this promotion (as club captain, no less), and rightfully so. But it's more than a little wishful to suggest he's still a great force on the park.

  16. 2 hours ago, cfcuk said:

    absolutely sick of reading Clyde fans on here slagging off a captain that lead us to a promotion after 10 years on the divsion. complete lack of respect

    Acknowledging the severe limitations of a player does not constitute "slagging him off". The simple fact is that a player needs to have more to his game than being able to win aerial duels and 50/50s in the middle of the park; before his stint in the juniors/return to senior football with us, he was a very good player because he combined those attributes with some mobility. He's lost a yard of pace, though, and his all-round game ultimately means he isn't particularly effective any more. Danny Lennon said himself multiple times that he wishes he had "Kevin Nicoll of five years ago". That's not to say he's not a good guy or that he's disliked in any way whatsoever - he was, in fact, very useful for us coming on to close out games when we were protecting leads or could give starters a rest.

    Of the seventeen games Kevin Nicoll started last season (in league/play-off competition), we had a win rate of 47% (W8 D3 L6) . In the twenty-three he didn't start, that increased to almost 83% (W19 D3 L1), remarkably with only one loss (up at Elgin after the points deduction) among that. I don't think even the most ardent fan of his could look at those statistics and say he was a key performer for us last season, regardless of his effort, commitment and leadership qualities. 

    Anyway, this is a Stirling Albion thread. I'd say that their recruitment has been sound, but fairly unspectacular so far. Jordan Lowdon's bad knee injury has robbed him of the blistering pace which he formerly possessed and which made him such a potent attacking threat, and between him and Creaney I don't see that as any improvement on Jordan Allan. Wilson is a smart addition, but it's hard to pick a good blend in midfield out of he, Docherty, Jardine and Nicoll. Hawke and Peters aren't improvements on what Stirling already had either, IMO, in fact they're probably weaker up top now without Smith. They look a decent shout for the play-offs at present, but given their form in the second half of the season and a lack of genuine quality among the new recruits, it would be a stretch to imagine they'll be serious title contenders.

  17. Best bit of Kristoffer's journey on Instagram sees him walking through what looks like the town centre with an extroverted, quintessentially Glaswegian female accomplice (someone from his church group, perhaps) who is loud-mouthedly bodying him for "giving up on his dream". His story serves as a heartening reminder to all footballers that if they stick in, work hard and battle through set-backs then one day, they just might get to play for Clyde FC.

  18. 8 minutes ago, tamthebam said:

    So farewell Gareth Rodger,

    I don't know if you had a big todger

    But you didn't let down the squad,

    On the occasions you were called into action. Which were odd,

    and not numerous, alas.

    I'm not sure what I've just read - or if I'm in fact dreaming - but I am living for this content and hope some more City players are released post-haste so I can consume more of it.

  19. https://www.fvn.no/lokalsporten/i/Wb8QGr/-Livet-er-mer-enn-fotball_-Kristoffer

    Just clocked this article Kristoffer Syvertsen's posted on Twitter. Having gone through and translated all his career blog-style Instagram posts just after he signed for us, and allied to his boyband-member good looks along with his fancy footwork and foreignness, I've always had a major soft spot for him. The article itself doesn't translate brilliantly well into English, but he tells the story of his journey in professional football in it. Nice wee read.

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