squeezebox-son

Someone like Derek Lyle incoming? or Robert Jones I wouldn't consider mid-late 20s as a good age but Faz might...

I should clarify that I'm not suggesting if he hadn't got injured we would have definitely avoided the drop. Inconsistencies were there beforehand too. I just think there were a number of games where we looked so dreadful at the back and clearly lacked leadership with pairings of Buchanan and anyone else really (Lynch or Bronski in particular). We only really settled once Stanger came into CB. Boyle had one okay match at CB too I think. I also think McGeever is good at leading and chatting others and younger guys through the game and that was missed.

Sure is. If we are half way to our first choice CB pairing it is much better than starting from scratch! I think we missed McGeever more than I ever thought last season. Our dreadful run of form started more or less when he got injured!

Happy for him to check my background etc.. Won't change that I'm being honest about Gregor's performances this last season. He looked a lot less suspect whilst McGeever was there but still not great. When he didn't have Ryan to lead/guide him through matches he looked hopeless.

This has been my opinion since early-ish last season. Both contributed far too little for the amount of eage they will be commanding. Performances were, on the whole, absolutely dreadful from them. They should have been really key to keep the younger guys right on and off the pitch this season but neither appeared to have any leadership skills or to actually be all that bothered that we were serving up dross week in, week out. Carswell has been rotten since the season we got relegated and Buchanan has went so far backwards since he left us last time. Seems to be making a career out of the fact he has played for a few clubs higher up the leagues but every single one (since he was last with us) will tell you he was a liability and simply not good enough for that level - hence he ended up back at Dumbarton and not any further up the chain.

I'd genuinely add Buchanan into that list. He has had a terrible season. A few okay games here and there don't mask how bad he has been, for me. Can't imagine he's on the lowest wage and I'm sure we could get much better in for the money.

This. It very rarely works out well second time around. Especially when the players in question have hardly been setting the fire alight in recent years... A la, Buchanan, Boyle, Geggan... no more, please.

Really? Rico was fine but he wasn't all that great. I think having had Boyle/Wylde/Muir this season may have tinted opinions and we maybe feel he was better than he actually was. Bit of a liability defensively. Looked decent going forward but I'm not sure he ever actually created goals with it. I'd have given Muir a chance because although he is raw, he is young and could have been a fairly cheap option who I feel could have developed into a decent player, especially with the drop down. That being said, I'd hope we find someone more proven at this level or the league above as our first choice.

Yeah, underwhelming at first... but will be far from the worst signing we make. Wasn't great first time around but that was a much higher level and he was young so has had time to develop a bit. Willing to give him a chance and see where he is at.

You won't need him when Goodwillie is signed up. Do you still have Bobby Jones signed up too..?

Finally got round to facing P&B again... what a clusterfuck of a season that was! Not too happy about most of the guys retained to be honest. Lynch, McKee, Wylde, Carswell and Buchanan can all go as far as I am concerned. They won't because they will all be aware that they aren't going to get interest from any other clubs, due to their dreadful performances this season and/or the fact they are just finished. Wilson has so much potential and if we can develop him a bit he will come on leaps and bounds. My concern is that we stagger his development again and he contributes next to nothing next season. Orsi is a player who always gave his all and looked up for it. But lacked quality quite often. I also feel he just isn't a striker but offers a bit more on the wing. Hope dropping a league will let him be more effective. Maclean is a great player especially if he keeps his head down and doesn't get drawn into silly things. I think he may have attracted interest from a few of the other league 1 clubs if he wasn't signed up. Happy and confident he will be good in the league below. The big issue we have is the management team who are coaching the guys. Things won't change and a losing habit is very difficult to stop unless you make the big decisions at the top end, IMO.

What has Carswell deserved to win this year? He turned up for about 6 weeks of the season and it's the only 6 weeks he has performed since we got relegated more or less.

Yeah, I also think it's about the worst prep for the really important fixtures we have coming up too. When there are play offs involved these things simply shouldn't happen. As you say, it's been a long time since the players were that well bonded and spirited that they'd even bother with the fans anyway!

I agree with most of them... but was Syvertson not already known for being injured when he signed, rather than developing the problem at Sons? I think it is unreal the amount of underachievers we have had since the beginning of our demise a few short years ago...

We 100% deserve to be where we are. When other teams needed a result they got it (just like today). Whereas, we have come up short time and time again in very important matches. East Fife (away) twice and last week (every game vs Peterhead really!) spring to mind straight away.

Hmm...

I appreciate Faz obviously believes we can take points from each of the next 3 but realistically the big one was the match yesterday! We didn't have enough urgency at all. Wright takes too long on things and the fact that everyone in the stand could see him struggling with the kickouts bu5 the defenders were leaving him to it and just telling him to take his time was disappointing. Was an absolute hammer blow losing the goal we did, in the manner we did too. Very disappointed with that. That being said, performances have been better on the last few weeks and I feel now if we can keep that level of performance then, even if we don't pick up enough points to avoid 9th place, we will have a fighting chance in the play offs. That really wasn't the case a few weeks back. We need to keep performances up and if we could play for 90 mins like we did in the first half yesterday, I have plenty confidence we could stay up (via the play offs or avoiding them). But inconsistency has really been something that has held us back throughout this season.

To be fair, he said recently that we had given away 30 something goals through individual errors. Can you imagine where we would be in the league if we had even halved that? I don't think he signed anywhere near good enough players and too many past it, duds and simply not good enoughs... but maybe he did believe we would be better off.

Yeah, these are pretty basic business skills really. If small businesses can do it then the club should be too. Amateur and just lacks professionalism really.

Ah, come on Peter. I know you are a ref and try to defend them at times but he was poor yesterday. Very inconsistent, stopping the game needlessly at times for soft fouls and then letting it go at others for stronger and more clear infringements. Some throw ins and free kicks he seemed adamant about where they should be taken and stopping yards being stolen but then other times didn't bother at all. One of the main things I expect in a ref is consistency. Finally, in my opinion, he got the 2 big calls you mention wrong too. I thought the pen was a foul but was outside the box and the red seemed harsh to me as I don't think there was any intent and it was accidental. I may change my mind after seeing them again but that's my opinion in real time. Fortunately his decisions didn't change the result and nothing he done or didn't do would have made a difference to us not drawing 0-0 yesterday. Apart from maybe sending off Dillon (perhaps) but even then I don't really see where we would have scored.

Yeah pretty dreadful. Fortunately didn't really change the result but he was all over the place... Gave the penalty but I was sure the foul was committed outside the box. Need to wait and see the highlights though! But obviously it was saved anyway.

We would have had a much better chance of getting the winning goal if Wright hadn't taken an eternity with every goal kick he could... infuriating!

There wasn't anything in that today. Montrose were there for the taking. I'd say that's the first time in years I have seen us play Montrose and they didn't impress me in any particular area. The ref was very poor but, fortunately, didn't change the result of the match. The two teams could still be playing on Monday and it would be 0-0. Wright is embarrassing and you have to question who is making the call yo waste time when a draw simply isn’t good enough. It's not even like Falkirk were beating or drawing with Peterhead at half time and we felt we just had to not lose. We knew they were winning and should have been doing absolutely everything to hurry that match along. I also called that the ref was desperate to show a red with 20 mins left and was proven correct. He is absolutely hopeless. Sean Dillon is pretty embarrassing as well. Our forwards weren't perfect (mainly Oyinsan this week and not MacLean) themselves but Dillon certainly put on a wee show today with his theatrics, sound effects and throwing himself into things. Same old story though... not good enough.

So the option is to keep Faz and have a real big chance of losing every game that's left. Or take a chance on getting the "new manager bounce" or even a lift from the manager going since the players don't seem to be playing for him anyway.

The principle isn't the same though. You've stated it yourself in your post here... we are in a desperate position. That's why the situations are completely different. In our struggling position it makes sense because we really need a change in form (desperately!). Edinburgh City, as you have already stated, have achieved pretty much all they realistically could. If Dumbarton were sitting even 2 places higher in this league then I don't think there would be many asking for the manager to be sacked. But we are not up to standard and to not be competing for the mid-table positions simply isn't good enough. Change is required, urgently.