Trawler Rum & Weetabix

To be honest Duffy and Smith are now irrelevant here, they may be still in place but they are not in charge. No matter what teams he picks there has been nowt all season to suggest that Dumbarton can come thro another four games and retain their status.

If ever there was a game where the first goal is crucial then this will be it.

It's an unwritten but long-held convention on P & B that anonymity is observed and preserved. As such, please in future refer to the 'irascible auld git' or 'ill-informed bald numpty' or suchlike, I'm sure everyone will recognise the individual concerned.

HAHA Looks like this thread is crocked as well

No-one has.

I'm told there's an article about Boghead in the current issue of 4-4-2 magazine.

Holy shit, I've jut had awful flashbacks to Hughie Stevenson and Kenny Meechan.

We need to consider a few things here, not least the relationship between Aitken and Farrell. If the wee man wishes to try his hand at full-time management then fair enough but it's perhaps a fair assumption that Faz will just jack in his day job too to join him. If he chose not to, what then of a possibility of Faz being considered as a direct replacement at DFC for Aitken, maybehe might quite fancy the idea of being his own boss ? The downside is that he has not been a manager in his own right, but the upside is that he is hardly inexperienced in the management business at part-time clubs, and Id be pretty sure he has a decent number of contacts at our level. Anyone think it could be worth a shout ?

We can debate and agonise to the cows come home but here’s my tuppenceworth for trying to address the current malaise:- •Replace Barr and Docherty at full-back with Taggart and Waters – the latter pair are defensively the formers’ equals but crucially they can get up and down the pitch at pace. •Retain Buchanan and Wright in central defence; on Sat Wright was progressively sucked into the same level of mediocrity as those around him, but I still think he’ll be a decent signing. •In midfield Gallagher needs rested and Kilpatrick played from the off. He and Scott Brown have to be given instructions to drive forward with Routledge playing the holding role. •Now it gets tricky. Do we play Cawley and if so where ? Is Gibson currently justifying a starting place ? No, IMO. Ditto Craig. That leaves Fleming who is not a natural striker or scorer and young McCallum. Perhaps Brown/Kirky/Gibson across the middle with Cawley playing off Garry up front ? Who knows ? Aye, lots to think about this week for the two Stevies.

Should we assume that Darren Barr and Mark Brown were consulted regarding young Ross, and if so the desire to sign him may suggest they were complimentary. Or maybe that's just pish - who knows ?

I'm picking up on a junior thread that Alan Waddell from Arthurlie Juniors is joining us to manage the U20's - anyone have any confirmation of this ?

Was it not Burnley ? I think Ray Montgomerie arrived from Newcastle around the same time.

I don’t, but what I can say is that when it comes to finance the Directors who run DFC on a day-to-day basis will invariably act in the best interests of the club. What seems to be happening in the middle order clubs is that some teams are stretching their finances pretty thinly in order to maintain full-time status whereas the likes of ourselves will remain part-time until full-time ever becomes a feasible option. As such, we may perhaps have a wee bit more leeway to strike individual wage deals than the dedicated full-timers. Add to that there is also a body of players for whom part-time football suits them. Most other clubs are still wedded to full-time - that’s their shout - but our Board will continue to be investing to stay in the division without breaking the bank.

Only Lee Mair needed for the hat-trick

Yes.

I think where Agnew is concerned SA would definitely wish to retain him - we obviously have our own opinion but it's always interesting to note how many other clubs' fans rate him too. As such, IM may wish to lure him to Paisley. Graham and Fleming I would also retain but if they are kept on it may be on less than an automatic pick basis - we'll see soon enough. As for Kirkpatrick, the boy does have tremendous skill but it tends to be limited to very short bursts. He has also got to learn when to release the pass and stop overdoing things, but I get the feeling that a new Manager could be just the motivation he needs.

I never heard the show but I expect the invite would have come in the light of his contractual 'revelations'. He is of course perfectly entitled to his take on things but the problem for me in all of this is that the wider public gets to hear a pretty one-sided version of things, with DFC left in the crosshairs. Now the club can defend itself ably I'm sure, but my info at the time was that that this player was offered a one-year deal with the option of an extension based both on appearances and Sons retaining Championship status. If that was the case then A) it seemed a sensible arrangement bearing in mind the guy was 33, and B) that scenario is a whole lot different from the club 'welching on the terms of a two-year deal' as has maybe been suggested. But the bottom line was this. Mair is an ex-SPL player who was signed to bring that experience to bear in the heart of the defence. What we got IMO opinion were a series of mediocre performances spread over a total of only 15 appearances in which we conceded a lot of goals, and I say that as someone who originally thought we'd made a good signing. As he probably never said on 'off The Ball' yesterday, based on that record what Manager or Board would want to take up the option of the second season ? I'm relieved they didn't and whilst there may have been some background issues, the correct decision has been made. Time for everyone concerned to move on.

Anyway, with saftey now assured shouldn't we get back to the subject of the new stadium ?

I'd be quite surprised at that, I think that his stock is possibly lower than it was a year ago.

Anyway, Ian Murray has one year left to run on his contract. If you were him would you proceed on that basis and remain at DFC or would you look to move on whilst you managerial credit rating is still fairly good, always with the risk that we start to slide back down the greasy pole and with that the adverse effect on your personal career ambitions ?

Is anyone on here old enough to remember when our U-20's won a game ?

Sounds like we could have used him on reception.

Let's hope so johnny, but I'm not sure I totally share your confidence. Saturday will give good indication.

Cheers Pete, good to hear.

Has anyone seen Pachyderm recently ?