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O'Kelly Isley III

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Posts posted by O'Kelly Isley III

  1. 10 hours ago, Derry Pele said:

    Diane Abbott: MP denied chance to speak during Commons race debate

    In a PMQs dominated by comments made by a Tory donor about her, Diane Abbott rose at least 46 times to ask a question but did not get to speak. Funny how the Speaker could “use his discretion” the other week but not today

    Yep, and Hoyle attempting to justify it on the basis that many other MP's sought to intervene in the debate.  That weak argument quickly falls apart on the fact that as far as we know none of these other MP's had been targeted as Diane Abbott has.  In the context of the PMQ session she should have been allowed to contribute.

    Hoyle has become a liability as Speaker.

  2. 25 minutes ago, super-son said:

    Obviously it would be ideal if he were to do a fans meeting or something like that but to be honest, he could do most of the communicating through website articles or using the clubs social media. It doesn't need to be a case of standing in front of the fans to make every announcement.

    Dumbarton are a small club and there is no excuse for zero communication when it comes to things like league expectations, artificial pitch plans etc.

     

    Edit to add: I'm not having a go at you or anything but a person who is "a current trust board member, we've had semi-regular meetings with the club board" is very much more "involved at the club" than most people.

    That's all very fair comment.  As another Trust Board member I'm in the same situation as BSF and I can tell you that at times these meetings with the DFC Board can be hard going.  There are several fundamental issues in play and communication is certainly one of them.

  3. 5 hours ago, Hampden Diehard said:

    A proud past means hee haw.

    Well it does in your case as the present day Queens is a different club from the one that preceded Lord Haugh Haugh's money.  I've often wondered what attracted him.

    For many of the rest of us our past is about all we've got.

  4. 9 hours ago, squeezebox-son said:

    It's way worse than in the last year though. This decline has been happening since we dropped out of the Championship and particularly over the last few years where we have become a laughing stock in so many ways.

    The papering over the cracks just seems a helluva lot more exposed now than it has in the years prior.

    It is indeed way worse on a couple of metrics, and whatever anyone thinks of the team management the injuries to Long, Young and Durnan have been hammer blows.  There is also the waygoing of McLean, Shiels and Wallace to consider.

    But shit happens and you need to respond, but in truth the with the exception of Newbury, the loanees and recent signings have fallen short of the mark.  As in truth have a couple of the close-season additions, eg Malcolm and Hilton.  We're now a long way from a settled, reliable team and there is an over-reliance on certain players.

    The other deterioration is the pitch.  Last season we had several postponements due to frost and lying water, and whilst we haven't lost a fixture this time the surface has become a muddy nightmare.  It must be really dispiriting for Sons players knowing that for a couple of months of the season every home game is played on a midden. 

    We must be truly desperate for Broomhill's money 

     

  5. 1 hour ago, BullyWeeStonehouse said:

    We've had none of those things my entire lifetime so I think we will be fine in that regard as it's nothing new.

    As far as other teams hating us, who gives a f**k. I don't particularly like any other Scottish team. I'm sure nobodies losing sleep over fans of other teams disliking them.

    I think you'll find that other than attention seeking bams there isn't a great hatred for Clyde - I certainly don't hate them but that's maybe because I'm old enough to remember the very good team of the 1960's which finished third in the First Division in 1967.  Add in the two Scottish Cup wins in three years in the decade before and without disrespect to any of the teams which have already dropped, the loss of Clyde FC to the senior league would be on a whole different level.

    I wish the Bully Wee good luck in avoiding tenth place.

  6. 16 hours ago, FifeSons said:

    That’s what I thought, but he’s still there on Companies House. Not that the club is ever quick to update that, so you’re probably right. I wondered if maybe the confusion was that he’d resigned from the CC board, but not DFC.

    Moonster is correct, there are three active Directors at DFC although Paul McPherson's role and duties remain unknown.  Which leaves two actually running the show.

    Some of us have developed a part-time hobby in recent years trying to keep up with the blizzard of comings and goings on Companies House involving DFC, Cognitive Capital, MoreHomes DFC and MoreRooms (RIP).  That should perhaps tell even the most starry-eyed optimists something.

  7. 7 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

    In your opinion, what should the fans/Trusts next steps be?

    I'd encourage everyone who can to attend the Trust AGM on April 22nd, noting that non-Trust supporters can attend on provision of joining on the night.  There is a plan in early progress and it would be the intention to discuss it in open session on that occasion.  I'm not going to attempt to cover it here.

  8. 2 hours ago, DFCTTFM said:

    I don't know about anyone else, but seeing the club in this bad of a situation is truly heartbreaking. Everyone can see the problems, yet nothing can realistically be done. The board & manager will continue to pass the blame and essentially bullshit the fans further which in turn is only making things worse, its a vicious cycle which is going to come to a head at some point, there is only so much the fans can take before alot decide to pack it in. Troubling times.

    The DFC Board, such as it is, has adopted a policy of trying to manage the ownership situation as opposed to confronting it, especially in the matter of securities which were established at the time of the Cognitive Capital purchase of the club's majority shareholding in April 2021.

    Knowledge and understanding of these securities is vital, because if Cognitive through their created entity MoreHomes DFC fail to gain planning consent to build houses on the Rock site, then the securities could financially detonate under DFC.  Simply put, the situation is worryingly very murky and although the Trust has pressed for clarity none has been forthcoming.  And in fairness to the previous Board, such was their frustration at the lack of transparency that the then Chairman, Company Secretary and two Associate Directors resigned their posts.  That was a highly significant act.

    The current club ownership is like a wheel hub, and every other activity, including the football aspects, rotates around it.  And of course one party stands to benefit from any decline in the club's fortunes and finances, yet worryingly there are still those who believe that Cognitive can be a force for the good of DFC.  I don't know about heartbreaking but it's certainly extremely worrying.

  9. 24 minutes ago, Jan Vojáček said:

    That was a really odd game. And the ending was grimly predictable. So much so, that it provoked virtually no anger. Just everyone streaming for the exits and a few sighs of 'f**k's sake'.

    It was weirdly, mainly, because of East Fife. For the first 20 minutes and last 15 or so they were superb. They penned us in, dominated the midfield and should've added to their three goals. In fact they should've been 3-0 ahead inside 15 minutes, with Nathan Austin somehow hitting the post from about two yards and Stuart Murdoch almost catching out the very shaky looking Jay Hogarth from long range. With the ball hitting the bar.

    After that start, they dropped out of the game. And we really should've been level before half-time when Finlay Gray missed a sitter.

    With the wind at our backs we started the second-half very well. Both goals were really decent. The first working the ball out to the left, a good pass by Tony Wallace and a terrific finish from Finlay Gray.

    The second saw Michael Ruth finally get a reward for all the chasing of balls punted into the channels. Robbing Brian Easton and teeing up Jinky Hilton (via a lovely Gray dummy) to stroke in.

    Then we crumble almost immediately. Conceding from a corner. Which has been an Achilles Heel all season. It looked like Jay Hogarth should've done a lot better too, but I'm not sure if he had bodies in the way.

    From that goal until about 10 minutes from time I was very comfortable it was ending 2-2. Both sides looked quite content with that.

    But then East Fife went for it, Hogarth had the bar to thank for bailing him out after another awkward save. And made a decent rebound save after spilling a long range Jack Healy shot. Before making one of the weirdest attempts to save a header I've ever seen. Resulting in Nathan Austin's winning goal. I'm not sure if it was the wind, a deflection or just a howler. But I thought the header was his all the way. Right up until the moment it hit the net.

    We could've crumbled after going behind early. And I thought we were miles off it early on. But the players did show a bit of fight in the second-half.

    Mark Durnan being back made a difference and I thought he played well. It was also the best game I think Jinky Hilton has had for us, maybe excepting the Forfar match. He was skilful, used the ball well, took his goal well and worked hard for the cause.

    Michael Ruth was Michael Ruth. Tony Wallace was Tony Wallace.

    Despite his goal, I didn't think Finlay Gray played all that well. Especially when it came to using the ball. Cian Newbury likewise did some things that were very good, and some things that saw him getting overrun. Aaron Healy showed about five minutes of promise after our goals, and was then hooked.

    By far and away our biggest issue however is the defence. Nathan Austin started playing off Mark Durnan, and didn't get a great deal of joy. It was just two big strong boys giving as good as they for.

    Then he targeted Gallagher Lennon. And ragdolled him for the whole of the second-half. Lennon is just not ready for this level of football yet; and it can't be doing him any good getting roasted constantly. His confidence must be in tatters.

    Left-back is obviously a major issue too. As we all know. And I don't have a clue what we do there. Blair Malcolm was at fault for the opening goal and got roasted a few times. Ryan Blair isn't very good there at all, but he seems like our only passable option. And that's bloody terrifying.

    Fourth place is still very much in our hands. Eight games remaining and all we have to do is make sure that East Fife don't win two more than us is a challenge most teams should be confident in overcoming. But we really are a rabble at times defensively, and I've no faith at all in this squad to play sensibly and string together a five or six game run of positive results.

    We've won four games since Brett Long broke his ankle in the first week of December. That's harrowing. I know we all knew Brett was excellent, but I don't think we maybe appreciated just how vital he was at papering over defensive cracks.

    I've given you a greenie Jan as that would have cost you about 800 quid in the obituaries column in the Lennox.

  10. 1 hour ago, squeezebox-son said:

    Whenever there's any kind of pressure on us, whether it be today, a game vs Stenny when we were still considered "title contenders" or vs the bottom sides when we are expected to win (on paper)... they just bottle it. Every single time. It's happened far too often to be coincidence and, for me, it comes from the top. Farrell and his team are bottle merchants and it's spread throughout this group of players, again!

    I don't think any of the players we've had under Stevie Farrell are or have been bottlers but there has developed a very unfortunate pattern in that no matter the line-ups, the tactics have been so repeatedly one-dimensional, ie one man up front, and the substitutions so randomly baffling that the outcomes become the same on a repeat basis.  

    That's either down to the players themselves or the team management, and when we consider the balance of the squads, or rather the lack of it, IMO it's definitely the latter.  Faz's managerial record at both Stranraer and Dumbarton is not brilliant, and it would be a bold person who would expect anything much to change during the remainder of his contract here.

    As such the club needs bold leadership in the Boardroom right now, but I fear that's exactly where you might have a bottle problem.

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