Howlin' Wilf

Considering where Morton were when Duffy took over, surely he has done a decent job? He was alright with Brechin too. I'd be quite happy if he and Aitken did a job swap......

Would be surprised if Stevie is considered for the Morton gig (if reports of Duffy leaving are indeed true). Well, part one has happened. Duffy has left Morton "by mutual consent".

Ok. Still on your website.

I notice that Sir Bryan of Prunty is still on your books. Please tell me that he has nae chance of playing......

I don't think so.

Resting players for the playoffs?? The winner!

Who'll be the first to say that Arbroath got what they set out to achieve?

Although.............

I'm just listening to Ayr being presented with the League One trophy. They finished last season with 33 points, 3 more than Dumbarton finished with today, so pretty comparable performances over a season. Raith Rovers who, like us this season, finished 9th are now probably favourites to win the play offs (shouldn't it be plays off?) just as Brechin did last season, beating Raith in the process. Those two sentences should illustrate just how football can change in the course of 12 months. I wish Steve Aitken and the players all the best in the plays off. I hope the the Sons manage to make the best of whatever the outcome is.

Although.......

I believe so.

Sitting in the sun. If you look carefully you’ll see the exact spot where Willie Miller and Alan Hansen ran into each other in 1982.

I was going by the SME size reported as Micro - less (sic) than ten employees or t/o under £2 million. How are you calculating that loss from the info available? There has been no profit and loss issued to shareholders, nor any AGM for years.

I have a business involving catering and I know exactly why the club franchises the whole thing out. Firstly, it is the operator and not the club who has to comply with all food and hygiene regulations. This means keeping a record of the temperature of food sold, formulating a food handling policy and many other pieces of legislation. It means that the employment costs, holidays, pensions are the responsibility of the operator. Yes an 18 year old, employed for 2 hours per week will soon be entitled to a pension. It means that stock, stock rotation, VAT and other items are the responsibility of the operator and not the club. The club, to run it themselves would have to employ a catering manager and have him administer all of the above. All for 20 minutes a fortnight, for nine months of the year, to sell mainly perishable food. I think the club is wise to avoid all that.

I don't think anyone can with any certainty, predict what's going to happen next season regardless of whether the club stays in the Championship or starts 2018-19 in League One. I'm inclined to agree with OKI that relegation might be the preferable route and I'm pretty sure that would be the collective board view at this stage. A board member said to me the week before the Irn Bru final, that the money for that would "see us through to the end of the season". The club is living hand to mouth and tbh whilst it is hard to see where a budget will come from to compete in League 1, it's pretty impossible to see where the money will come from to compete in the Championship with the attendant maintenance issues that require attention. We may all be living in a fool's paradise here. There has not been a profit and loss sheet issued to shareholders for something like 15 years. There hasn't been an AGM for years either. The club hide behind being a company with a turnover of under £2 million which allows them to withhold most relevant information. Having purchased the accounts, the only comfort I can give is that the overdraft at May 2017 was under £10,000 - down from over £33,000 on the previous year. This might be significant and might not - it depends on the debtors/creditors balance (due within one year) which were £140,000 and £146,000 respectively. TBH none of that means very much and I'm sure that Frank Meade, being an accountant has done a decent job in fulfilling the legal stuff. Paul Reilly was elected secretary on 31/03/2018 and Les Hope resigned on 10/04/2018 The accounts for May 2018 will not be published until next year.

Isn't there an NHS in Dumfries? Does Barr think he was playing for AC Milan or something?

I remember in the early days at the Rock, suggesting to Ian MacFarlane to approach Northern Rock Bank/BS as I thought the stadium name would have been great for both parties. I don't know what happened to Northern Rock, you don't hear of them much now.

Don't forget Strathclyde Homes.

It would seem that Les Hope is no longer on the board but that the promised new board isn’t yet in place. http:// https://suite.endole.co.uk/insight/company/SC009005-the-dumbarton-football-club-limited?page=people-contacts

Quite appropriate really considering the ftba’s been murder recently!

Slight problem is that I'm away the weekend of the Falkirk match and will be recovering from an eye operation at the time of both play off semis. If it is on other times I'd be happy to contribute.

Meanwhile in Northern Ireland.

John Steele is nephew of Hon Chairman Douglas Dalgleish. It is a bit early to decide what kind of outcome this presents.

Dearie me, it's youse if you don’t mind [emoji38]

We were in hospitality too and it was great to see the class of 72. One sad note is that Peter Coleman tells me that Charlie Gallagher now has Alzheimer's. It was great though speaking with these Sons heroes. Cracking meal too and unexpected quality fayre served up on the pitch too. Nice to see former director Billy Walker there. It's good to know that he still cares about the Sons.