the_bully_wee

We did indeed. The highlights also omitted the lovely exchange between Johnston and Peaso which saw the former have a sight of goal, but unfortunately he dilly-dallied a bit and lost the ball. Would've been an early goal of the season contender had he put it away. After being at the Morton game on Tuesday, which was a bit of a non-event from a Clyde point of view for various reasons, I was looking forward to seeing how we'd measure up against Berwick and wasn't disappointed. Of the new recruits, I was particularly impressed by McNiff, Lowdon and the two mentioned above. McNiff looks like a good athlete and pretty strong in one-on-one battles and duels, while Lowdon will be a great attacking outlet for us. Extremely quick and very eager to press the ball - skilful, too. You can see that Johnston isn't a defender when he's left one-on-one but he's also got lightning pace and the ability to beat a man - I'd prefer to see him as a winger with McNeil dropping back. Peaso looks like the sort of striker we've not had in years - will put away a good 6 or 7 out of 10 clear cut chances. Lots of nice wee flicks and good awareness too, but needs a runner next to him. Gormley did that job well yesterday. On the others:- Oliver was a little bit shaky at times but looks like he'll fulfil the role ball-playing centre back quite well, while McNeil was a bit out of sorts in an unfamiliar position. We know what Easton's capable of but Berwick largely did a good job of forcing him deep or wide. It was refreshing after a few seasons of, erm, 'functional' football that we were looking to move the ball sharply, play quick one-twos and set up triangles in the wide areas. Hopefully we can continue in this manner, although it'll be tougher to do at places like Berwick and Arbroath. Only concerns at the moment are the form of Linton, the fact we don't have a great deal of physicality and the fact the squad's a bit bare in terms of numbers. If we can keep Peaso and Easton fit, bring in a utility player or two and get Fergie and JP back and firing ASAP then I think we could be in for a right good season, with an exciting team and some good football along the way.

Peaso xxx

Getting bodied 3-1, Matty Flynn ( ) with the goal for us

For me, we're weaker than we finished the last season in two areas: leadership (loss of Marko) and up front (release of Gemmell). We've improved significantly at right full back, brought in another dedicated winger, added loads of creativity through the middle and, in doing all of the above, have changed our squad from an ageing, one-paced, stuffy outfit to one with a good blend of youth and experience, agility and steel. If (and it's a big if) we can bring in a goalscorer, we could have the makings of a right good season. An Alan Martin to replace Gibson would be nice, but he's definitely adequate at this level. To write the season off after the squad has had 3/4 training sessions together and played only one meaningless game is hilarious, frankly.

Legs are gone according to Morton fans. I'd certainly fancy him to put a chance away over Gormley, though.

I don't think the opening round of fixtures could've been much kinder to us, if I'm being honest. That said, it ultimately depends on us being able to put together some sort of home form, but if we can exploit the space Broadwood's pitch offers us then we could pick up a fair amount of points from the first 9 games.

I'm not sure about anyone else, but I quite like the idea of signing a river. Playing it in midfield would allow us to literally drown the opposition midfielders while facilitating our patented hoofball.

I quite liked Michael Oliver at Clyde - he was indeed signed as a striker, from an amateur team I believe, and went on to play in just about every outfield position. I didn't think he was particularly a stand out in any of them, but he was in two utterly guff teams and had his most consistent run in a defence comprising him and Iain Gray at CB with a 90 year old Lee Sharp and Gavin Brown on either side.

Thank f**k that's finally over. Would've liked to have seen him stay, and I can't understand why both Higgins and Gormley have been retained before him, but this whole faux pas has been completely OTT.

Fordyce?

You were 14/1 when the odds went up last week. I meant to get in on it, but forgot to do so. Amateur hour.

Pat Scullion fell from heaven, does that count?

On a serious note, Jason Marr? Not sure if he's signed elsewhere before now, right enough.

Simon Mensing IMO

The thought of Jim Goodwin breaking legs in a Clyde shirt makes my heart flutter.

Makes picking a starting line-up a bit easier, at least All the best to him, a good player who did a job for us. Hopefully we'll see a classic Lithgow situation and he signs again in August!

Fantastic signing. Credit to all involved in making it happen. When I saw David Douglas' tweet last night he immediately sprung to mind - I'd heard a rumour after the PotY dinner that we were after him, and his activity on Twitter hinted at him signing. For me, that completely wipes out the disappointment of losing Kirkpatrick (and then some). The main priority now has to be a starting right sided centre back, but if we can't manage to get one then Marsh would be fine in there. A poacher would be the icing on the cake, but even then I expect we'll get more out of Higgy by playing predominantly on the deck. Beyond that, and being gluttonous, a better keeper than Gibson would be wonderful. If he can cut out some of the bizarre errors/lapses in concentration then he'd be more than adequate, right enough. Much better at coming off his line to claim crosses towards the end of the season. If we can strengthen in the three above positions then we'll take some beating.

I don't even know where to begin with the above post. Definitely the biggest load of nonsense I've ever seen written on this forum - perhaps anywhere.

There's no way we'll run with 5 strikers. I think we need one more, personally, and he needs to be better than those we've currently got (hiya John, hiya pal). I wouldn't be surprised if Millen is reviewing his options first before committing if nothing significantly better crops up, but he'd be a big loss. A midfield trio of McGovern, Flynn and Millen would coast through most games in this division. No complaints about Scott McLaughlin staying, but I think we'd need a bit more than he offers from a starting viewpoint. Smith staying is a big bonus and hopefully he can maintain his consistency from this season, while Watson is a good option to have and will hopefully kick on a bit during the coming campaign. We've known that JP was remaining at the club since the fan consultation meetings, but it's still good to have him confirmed. Hopefully he can also continue his good form from this season, and his age doesn't start to catch up with him. I suspect the confirmation of JP and not Marko means that the big man's retiring, which is disappointing but not entirely unexpected. I'd imagine we'll still have him registered as a player, in any case. Disappointing that a true Clyde legend couldn't bow out with a promotion. Edit: Barry's saying in the article on the website that Marko's on holiday at the moment, so that last paragraph could well prove to be a load of guff.

Is Taggart not predominantly a right back? He'd be a good signing but I've never known him to play centre half. Could be wrong, mind.

Losing Linton along with Kirkpatrick would be really gutting. Two players a cut above this division, both with the sort of touch and awareness that can transform a decent team into a really good one. The loss of those pair would really put pressure on us to find a 20-goal striker.

Absolutely no qualms about Phil Johnston. As I've said elsewhere and David's said above, I can't really see him being a starter. That sort of pace of the bench, along with his versatility in being able to play as a winger and a right back, means he should be a good addition. Having said that, he may be a starter initially depending on the recovery of Scott Ferguson. As for the others - not a surprise among them, but all look like good signings. They certainly offer upgrades on what we had in those respective positions at the end of the season, with the exception of McMann - but even then, Lowdon's highly-rated. If we can hang onto Smith and, in particular, Millen and Linton, I think we'll have the basis of a right good and dynamic squad. We'll just have to wait and see what we end up with up front and in goals to gauge where we are.

McNiff and Hart for a house.

Lowdon confirmed. I don't know whether I like the dragging out of the signings or not.