O'Kelly Isley III

And maybe Jim Duffy has closer contact to Parkhead.

It doesn't now matter where he played, he's away as is Kane, end of. The job for Ian Murray continues to be to build a squad capable of competing on a very tight budget. I would imagine he's already looking at more loan deals.

I just heard Leanne Dempster quoted on the radio as saying that Hibs will 'take time' over the next appointment. If we take that at face value then Ian Murray should be hard at it building our squad for the coming season. My own view is that he may be well advised to stay clear at this particular time; if Hibs don't go back up pronto then neither their fans or their Board is likely to be too forgiving. At the moment I see them third at best, unless they assemble a really good squad. In terms of reputation he can afford at least another season with us, and presumably it's not as if managing Hibs is the only career option of interest to him. Move along now Cowden, Falkirk folk, nothing to see here.

Calm down everyone. As of now Ian Murray is still contracted as Dumbarton manager and until such times as that changes he should be busting a gut on our behalf - we don't pay him an insulting sum as a matter of interest. Football is full of twists and turns and this season is going to be hard whoever is in charge. If Murray goes we look to a similar type to replace him, but don't rely too much on the media being right about Hibs' new boss; Sellick's recent appointment was the Foinavon (Google it kids) of managerial appointments.

Really ? Last time I looked we had a manager and, er, Falkirk didn't.

Well yes actually, the wummin on the Morrison's fish counter says it's all but dead in the water, apparently there are simply too many problems and too little financial return.

Did it happen in Mount Blow Road by any chance Pete ?

For Shug Murray to make a decent contribution he needs a good pre-season under his belt. If that happens he can be a decided asset but I really hope both men have been honest in their discussion and expectations and we're not left with another Smith/McDougall type scenario nexst term.

'In the absence of hard fact, wild speculation will inevitably fill the vacuum' Kate Middleton, on buying a Pregnancy Test Kit in Boots in Kensington, 2012.

Having spoken recently with the Chairman on this issue I'll be surprised if we manage extra capacity, due to a combination of factors not all of which are in DFC's control. There is also a tendency to make fag-packet financial calculations which are far from delivered in reality. Is there any point in bursting your ass for say £3 a head ? Of course we should pursue the idea until it can't fly but remember that even without any expenses an additional 1500 bods @ £20 per head generates only £30K - hardly a massive sum.

Agreed, it's like two cuddly toys having a square go.

Kane is in my opinion still a bit short of experience for the Premier League, and I honestly think that another season in what will be a fiercely contested Championship would benefit him - we need to remember that Stevie May's burst onto the scene came after an 'apprenticeship' in the lower leagues. Ian Murray however cannot be hanging about waiting for Tommy Wright to hand down his judgement, so what will happen will happen.

Indeed we did, thanks mainly to an abysmal refereeing performance by RD Keggie of Edinburgh

...But back to the keepers. Robinson is erratic, eccentric and under-sized; the much-vaunted Michael McGovern, currently getting smoke blown up his arse on another thread, has never impressed greatly (witness the two goals he lost on his last visit to the BBS) whilst Thomas Flynn is in reality no more reliable than what we have right now - Jordan's free-kick anyone, and various other offences ? With Lucky Letheren departing upstairs that leaves Zander Clark of QoS as easily the most impressive goalkeeper remaining in this division. Glad we sorted that out folks.

A short-lived, ie one-off trophy which was competed for in season 1975/76 by all clubs outwith the newly-formed Premier Division. Sons emerged from a section that included Stenny, Arbroath and Albion Rovers; we then knocked out Raith despite having been 0-2 down and facing a (missed) penalty at Kirkcaldy in the first leg tie - if memory serves me right Ian Wallace ran amok at Boghead in the second leg. We then disposed of Falkirk over two legs before slumping to a 3-1 defeat from the Bankies in front of 3000 at Firhill, a game which featured a very rare error by 'keeper Laurie Wiliams (now there was a goalkeeper....). Airdrie beat the Bankies 4-2 in the final at Firhill the following Monday night, an evening when I should have attended tutorials at Stow College

Excellent !

Goalkeeping is such a specialist position that there is no need to limit a search to the senior game, and in any case who of us knows much of keepers in Leagues One and Two ? IMO to start next season with the three men from this one would be a dire decision, as it is we have already signed two of them. Let me assure you, there are better goalies out there, it's part of the job to find them.

And as long as we have posts like this it will never go away. Jamie Ewings is a done deal but I can't believe that there are not other keepers out there worth a look.

We'll need to agree to disagree on the goalie situation Rab, and I remain confident we'll see a new first choice keeper come August. As regards most of the other signings I'm OK with them, providing we add some real quality to the starting eleven - we lurched into last seaon on the back of a defeat at Stranraer and a hiding at Hamilton and it was the double loans of Nish and Murray which helped stabilise the ship. In fairness to Ian Murray I think he recognises this and it may be that he has signed many of the existing squad up early to get the nucleus quickly sorted which let's him assess early what he can spend from here on in and who to target. Murray and Ross have shown themselves to be very adept with loanees and if we were to get three or four decent Premier additions in then I'd be fine with that - most deals are nowadays only for a year anyway. As I mentioned before DFC is really disadvantaged this season by the small ground capacity which really limits revenue. If Livvy or Raith for example were to throw money at say Edinburgh-based Scott Linton then we probably couldn't hold him. Just an example of the difficulties we may face. At this stage I'm more than willing to trust Ian Murray and I'm really heartened that's he's relishing the job at Dumbarton.

Without labouring the point, then why is he offering contracts to players who were peripheral for most of last season ? Ian Murray has the potential to be a first-class manager at a high level but in player selection he remains an appreciable work in progress - for every Paul McGinn and Scott Linton there is the occasional Owen Ronald and Kevin Smith; in that respect he is little different from every other manager in the game.

This, with knobs on. Far from being greetin' faced fans, we're the most criticism-averse crowd in the league. I'll back Murray and the team to the hilt but I'll also reserve the right to criticise constructively and without cheap personal stuff. This is going to be one tough shift this coming season and the pack needs freshened; retaining guys like McDougall, Smith and Ewings simply doesn't cut it for me.

Just for the record Mike, the signings thus far do not constitute the squad for last season, and none of the really significant contributors, eg McGinn, Linton, Megginson, Nish, Kane and Miller has yet put pen to paper. I was really surprised that Murray made offers to virtually everyone and I can't say I'm ecstatic about some of those who are staying - some folks here forget how lightweight in midfield we can look at times for example. What is becoming clear though is that far from the bonanza the rest of the world seems to think having Rangers, Hearts and possibly Hibs will be this season for DFC, it could be a serious blow to our team-building as clubs like Raith, QoS, Livvy, Alloa, etc., are free mortgage the potential income from four or more virtual full houses on players wages, whilst our wee house simply won't permit that.

Really sad but not unexpected news about George, a great character and Sons fan to the core. Despite his rapidly failing health he recently made the journey to Dundee to cheer on the team, unbelievable commitment to his beloved Sons. There's many of us will miss his infectious enthusiasm and banter - may you rest in peace mate.

Murray alluded to some of it at the Awards Dance when he said that the attacking philosophy does cost goals. Off the top of my head I can think of three goals when we were in the oppositon box only to immediately concede a goal - Cowden away, Raith home and QoS home. I could also find around 8-10 goals where the keepers were none too clever - two howlers at Cowden away and last day at Dundee for example. There are also times when the midfield is simply passed thro, so it's a combination of lots of things.

Agreed, but the part-time thing might be an issue. He stays in Duntocher I believe so we should be making an effort, if we can strike a deal it could suit both parties.