O'Kelly Isley III

Good call Jordan - pleasing.

Yes indeed Wilf, said Master Totten went on to be a very successful businessman I believe. But let's not forget also the mercurial footballing talent on Sons' books in the early 1970's of one Drummond Mentiply, a Marc Bolan lookalike midfielder who was somewhat erratic in performance. He never quite made it at Boghead - or anywhere else for that matter - but gave rise to the epic Gare Clyde headline 'Multiply Mentiply !' in the County Reporter.

I'm pretty happy with this news; apart from the lad being a very useful addition it seems to further reinforce the line that players enjoy working with the two Stevies, never a bad thing at a part-time club with limited resources. And I've always been impressed with Mark Docherty when he faced us, guys like him contributed greatly to a stuffy defence which didn't leak a lot of goals last season. Really looking forward to the next addition to this Stranralloa FC squad

Paul McGinn, star performer....Chris Kane, star performer.....Scott Agnew, good but star performer ? Nah.

Murray's signing of both Findlay (whose agent directed him to DFC) and Agnew isn't anything other than another indication of his limited contact base within the game. Aggy is a decent player but he may soon be about to discover that St Mirren fans are less benevolent than their Dumbarton counterparts. Anyway, I admire his ambition but there's an opening now appeared for Kirkpatrick to provide the 'football' in midfield flanked by Gallagher and Miller should he choose to accept it.

It certainly looks very convoluted indeed, and the whole ownership issue appears opaque to say the least. The fact that Rankine hasn't fully exited the stage doesn't fill me with glee either.

Are you absolutely certain of that ? If not, allow me to put a slightly different slant on it for everyone. The word I had was that in the case of Findlay and Petrie, to name but two, loan deals came about as a result of their agents approaching Dumbarton FC and not through any overtures from Ian Murray. If that can be proven to be incorrect I'll stand to be corrected. Murray obviously saw enough in Findlay to galvanise himself with his new St Mirren hat on, or he made suggestions to whoever at Paisley to fix him up - fair enough. Murray's record at DFC stands as exemplary. But there's been a lot of under the radar stuff; never mind loan deals, his final week as Dumbarton Manager was interesting to say the least. I was always concerned at his ability to identify and attract players, and as Moonster has already pointed out we'd likely be starting next season with then remnants of last term's team, or at least the ones who never buggered off at the earliest opportunity. Give Stevie Aitken and Stevie Farrell every chance.

No, no, the guy simply never produced last season, and I'll be surprised if he becomes a stand-out at Raith. Mitch flits in and out of games and I can't see that altering greatly- we need more than whizz-bangs in testimonials and indeed Stirlingshire Cup matches

Hmmm...I'd be careful of taking this at face value. However, any part-time player with a job outside football considering going full-time has a big call to make. Suppose you were to sign for say Morton, and by early December the Manager was sacked, that could be a real game-changer in every respect.

That's football I'm afraid, and Gils is experienced enough to recognise that. If Stevie Aitken's picks come in and perform then fans will warm to that; if not, then he and they will have to deal with that too. Early indications are that he's going to put his own stamp on things and it was perhaps inevitable that some fans' favourites would be leaving. And if Aggy and anyone else decides to move on then we must do too. I get the feeling that Gil's pride is wounded, but he leaves with our best wishes. And as someone who has banged on about last season's lightweight midfield I'm giving Aitken my backing on this one.

Why will people hate him ? We haven't had a barely-controllable bampot with a firm opinion of his worth since the Crilly fellow was in town. Bring him on, complete with his scaffolding poles !

Anyone seen any movement at The Rock today ? It worries me that a player might turn up, see the barrier down and say 'f**k this for a game of sojers' before heading to Paisley/Greenock/Kilbirnie.

As fans I think we need to develop a mindset that there are parallel universes currently in play; on the one hand we have the football club which is by public admission self-financed with no record of monetary investment by the majority shareholder, and on the other the faintly ludicrous notion that this same shareholder has both the nous and wherewithal to profit both itself and the football club by moving stadium. All this on the back of a claim by Neil Rankine that he is still personally owed £300K arising from the purchase of that majority shareholding in DFC. It is fantastic stuff indeed, and I don’t mean in a good way, and I doubt whether anyone on the DFC Board really expects the scheme to come to fruition. The account in the local press concerns a minor milestone in the process and helps plug a gap in the paper in a slow news week. Once the planners, consultants and survey agencies fees start plopping on the mat it could become interesting.

The new Manager's priority is to get a whole squad in, and in that regard I'm just a wee bit concerned about the (unavoidable) timing of his jaunt to Florida; I would imagine the mobile getting as hot as the temperatures over there. As regards goals against, I repeat; whilst a percentage was certainly down to the defence and 'keepers per se, the chronic inability of the midfield and the forwards to hold the ball and provide any sort of defensive barrier in the middle third of the pitch saw opposition teams repeatedly come at our box in waves, after melting thro our middle order. The comparison of goals with last season is interesting, but would be illuminating to see the percentage possession stats, especially in games which we actually won. And using 5/6 centre-backs thro a season is for the birds.

Aye, not thrilled by this one

Aye, what a difference a week makes, and I'm glad to see that whilst folk are correct to commend Ian Murray's record at DFC, they are also beginning to appreciate that we are entering a new chapter. Stevie Aitken's capture was down to a concerted team effort by a Board united in a clear purpose and crucially, acting in an honest and proper manner.

Nice post my friend and thanks for the compliment, appreciated. I would agree with some of your thoughts but I'd also take issue with some too. It WILL be a tough shift next season but curiously given we've no signed players and backroom staff I'm l actually now looking forward to it more than had Ian Murray stayed in place. We both needed change and last Friday provided it. As it stands, tomorrow we'll unveil a new Manager in Stevie Aitken and I don't know one Sons fan who won't be 100% right behind his appointment. Great credit is due to our Board of Directors who really hit the ground running from very early last Saturday morning and continued it into this week in recognition of the need to act quickly and decisively. Sometimes this stuff gets lost in the mix. Whether we're due a bad one is a moot point, but with a new boss charged with building his own squad and a chance to really further his reputation we should be nothing if not invigorated at DFC. Stevie Aitken and ourselves will have covered the bases as far as possible and at this sage that's all we can ask. He'll be under pressure, yes, but nothing compared to Alan Stubbs, Ian Barraclough/Whoever, Ian Murray to name a few.

No, from that statement I don't think they are, and I have a hunch it may be the manner in which the process, as opposed to the departure itself, has been conducted from the (former) Manager's side.

I'll be buying a season ticket as per normal, but I've got a very heavy heart indeed about this season. Not only will we be up against at least three 'Premier' Division clubs, and eight full-time outfits in total, but every one of the other nine teams has an owner or owners who believe in some level of financial investment in their playing staff. In the case of Morton and Alloa, to name but two, they do it committedly. But here we are at Dumbarton, with Ian Murray or whoever scrabbling about the car boot sale, and I'm wondering if I'm the only Sons fan who sees an utter contradiction in that situation balanced against the grandiose scheme to uproot the club. And why do I get the growing impression that Brabco don't actually have any poppy worth talking about ?

Indeed; Global is growing on me, but that Rundanns thing.....

We just need to wait and see what transpires, and we've been here before with names being bandied about, but I'd like to think that Ian Murray has some sort of slate of players he has in mind. However, anyone who thinks that there is a lot of cash to splash should recall the statement at the Abbotsford about Brabco having committed no money towards team matters. Now, if we were to get Rogers, Findlay and Kane back and sign McGuigan then that would look like the spine of a team to me

Reading between the lines, the three departing players seem to be leaving DFC of their own volition - maybe they have clubs in the wings or maybe they just don't fancy life at The Rock. I can't think that barely three days after the last game of the season they have been themselves approached for a chat by the club. Whatever it is, we're already going to require a lot of searching for new players on a tight budget and it really concerns me just who we have at the club who can do that.

I don't think there has ever been much love lost between Murray and Mair; at the first fixture at Ibrox last year the player hirpled off before half time but some reckoned he could have appeared for the second half. He didn't, but he did apparently appear later that day at another player's night out in Aberdeen. There is though something of a pattern developing here, on the one hand Murray appears to have been 'unlucky' in his signing of some experienced players, either thro long-term injuries - Murray, Mair, Van Zanten - or via some personality issues - Nish. Against that though, we must wonder at the man management aspect, and certainly Mair's account is unwelcome and unhelpful in a week when Ian Murray has publicly lambasted some members of the playing staff. Not a good situation when we'll be needing to attract people over the summer. And curiously, although Murray and Jack Ross formed a good working partnership they had very differing styles and apparently had no great personal rapport.

I think we need park speculation about possible scenarios and concentrate on what we already know, and for me that is the plain fact that the team needs strengthening across virtually all positions. I keep repeating, had it not been for some crucial loan deals, we would not be planning for another season in the Championship. Some argue about tactics and formations, fair enough, but there has to be a recognition that minus the likes of Rogers, Findlay, Kane our squad is way too lightweight and in several cases not good enough to compete at this level. And much as I'd like to, I don't see any youth players ready to make the step up. I don't mean any disrespect but that's my take on it. Saturday was painful to watch at times as yet again a team passed it's way thro us almost at will. Conversely, when we have possession there is virtually no movement off the ball for the guy looking to make a pass and Andy Graham apart we must be the quietest team in the league. Harrying and tackling opponents has become an afterthought. We simply won't get away with that two seasons in a row, and I think the summer activity should reflect that.