energyzone

Should be a series of Friday night matches underneath floodlights for a few of these.

It can't be great scoring a goal and having 5 people clap though.

Conversely, Yoker, Rutherglen and Arthurlie would have made a fair bit of cash for getting to the final (especially Arthurlie with two-legged semi final). So if getting to the latter stages is now achievable for clubs in lower divisions then I can see the attraction. The problem I have with the SJC at present is that it's a halfway house. Part of the attraction was a draw against one of the big East clubs who you would never have normally drawn otherwise. But this is now the elephant in the room with the SJFA - reading their social media it's as if nothing has changed from 10 years ago. There's no acceptance that the cup is majorly devalued. There's no hint of a strategy other than to appeal for new entrants. Meanwhile the usual fixture congestion occurs at the end of every season and the core business - the leagues - stretch out for weeks without acknowledgement of one of the main causes.

How are other leagues and clubs trying to block their efforts?

It could reasonably be argued that any club who has an extended run in the SJC will happily sacrifice success in the WOS Cup, after all it's the least cherished competition open to clubs at present. Even league performances might suffer due to the inevitable fixture build up at the end of the season. But that leaves us in the situation where the fixtures man for the WOS league*, who is also the SJFA assistant, is promoting a competition which is potentially, or even likely to be to the detriment of his own league and league cup. A bizarre situation and a clear conflict of interest. What does the SJFA actually do apart from run a diminished cup competition and some minor leagues in the north of the country? Where is the plan to engage with other leagues and assert the SJC as a national non-league trophy? Have they even tried? From cup finals at Hampden hosting 70k+ crowds to scavenging about for members on Twitter is some fall from grace. If the SJC is here to stay (and the semi final crowds suggest it is) then it needs a proper plan, and an approach to other leagues to regain a sense of legitimacy. *Actually think Kennie does a great job with the fixtures given the circumstances.

Won't happen.

What has McKim achieved as a manager? His Johnstone Burgh side were seriously underperforming before he got the sack. I hadn't previously heard of him. Any other contenders for the job? The way things have gone over the last 3 years I wouldn't be surprised if they triumphantly announced Chris Aitken as the new manager.

We are now well behind the curve in getting any new players in. I can't blame Aitken if he is away to Stirling Albion, all the best to him. It didn't work out at Kilwinning and that's just the way it goes. It's not like he didn't try his best. It's just a really awkward time when other clubs are signing players and we have to start looking at filling the gaps.

He'll probably end up at Ardrossan and score the winner against us next season at some point.

It's becoming increasingly difficult to succeed at this level. The game has changed a lot in the last few years. Looking at the Premier League, we can't compete financially with the newer clubs (Gartcairn, Drumchapel, St Cadocs) and we don't have the fanbase of Pollok, Auchinleck or Clydebank (we should given the size of the town). Add to that the money that Johnstone Burgh, Darvel (for now) and potentially now Cumnock are deploying and already you are doing well to finish in the top 10. It makes Beith's achievements all the more remarkable. I can see Hurlford and Troon begin to struggle next season. And John McKeown has done well getting Shotts up, but may find an uneven playing field when he gets there. Obviously clubs receiving financial backing and skewing the financial landscape isn't an alien concept to this level of football, but normally it's one club at a time and for a limited time. It now seems to be the new norm.

What individuals?

The away support is still good. Compared to a few years ago, Kilwinning, Kilbirnie and Meadow being replaced by Gartcairn, Drumchapel and St Cadocs in the top flight is a bit of a hit to the match day incomes of some clubs. There must have been about 150-odd Kilwinning supporters at Hurlford at the tail end of last season for example, now replaced by approximately zero.

What is the away allocation?

We can't have that sorry. Nothing is worth Rangers winning.

What are his attributes? I wasn't convinced by him when he was at Kilwinning and then he bounced about quite a few other clubs but he seems to have found a good level of consistency at Talbot.

Kilwinning are a yo-yo club and Kilbirnie haven't won a top flight league or Scottish JC for 47 years!

The problem with recruitment at this level is that the manager is often part of the appeal to players, given that wages will be relatively small and clubs like ours will be outbid by the tier 6 clubs and the Drumchapel/Johnstone new money clubs. I don't see any evidence of Aitken being the reason that players want to sign. It actually almost feels like we are shopping in the bargain basement for players that no other club wants. I want him to succeed as he seems a nice guy and clearly cares very much about the club and is aware of the responsibility he has. I'm just not seeing any improvement at all and I'm not sure how we get the players in who will make a difference.

How long did he sign a contract for?

I don't think that's completely fair. The WOSFL was formed only a year or two after Linlithgow, Dalkeith, Boness etc applied for the EOS League. It's not as if the bigger East clubs were playing in the pyramid for decades beforehand. And some of the West Lothian clubs remained Junior for a period afterwards. The later transition to the pyramid was nothing to do with egos. Some clubs didn't want to move over in the first place (which is fine) and others were told by the SJFA that the cost of joining would be eye-watering. What we have though is a situation where there are plenty of clubs in the WOSFL which could hold their own at a higher level but are being prevented from doing so due to the limited promotion opportunities. That's what needs to change. Passage up and down the lower leagues should be much more fluid than it is just now. In time this will change, as community clubs are promoted and the vanity projects go bust and the balance of power in the Lowland League shifts from self-protectionism. Until then, let's just enjoy the best teams in the West all playing each other every season until one of them makes the inevitable leap upwards.

Voluntary ones run by a separate organisation?

Via the WOSFL - by proposing not allocating Saturdays throughout the season for the junior cup. Prioritise the league and the compulsory cups and let the SJFA have the headache of working out when to accommodate their optional competition. That way they can make early plans as to when to have their two-legged semis which causes minimum disruption.

He slagged off the entire WOS league on Facebook!

They get away with it because clearly clubs are happy with the arrangement. I haven't heard or seen any representations to change anything from those WOS clubs who don't participate in the JC.

Surely just because @jimbaxters mistakenly posted it in the WOS forum instead of the Junior one, bless him

I thought so too, mind you it's the stage of the season where players are being approached by other clubs now that certain clubs are confirmed in a certain division. I thought it was strange that he mentioned 6 or 7, not sure how that's meant to make the rest of them feel with 3 matches left, albeit there's nothing much left to play for.