DumbartonTheSons

It's only the one signing but I'm pretty pleased with it. A big, commanding, experienced centre-half is a good start. And he seems to be rated by Queen's fans which is good, so hopefully he can do a good job for us.

In addition to his hake, JB also seen purchasing pollock from the fish counter this morning...

Had a little nosey on the PFA players available website and in the list, ex-Sons included Scott Smith, James Creaney, Chris Turner and John Gemmell. I also noted Ryan Donnelly, he of ex-Airdrie fame. Would he be worth a shot? Stevie could maybe be the one to reignite his career? I know, I know, I'm bored too and just hanging around for some, any kind of signing news.[emoji30]

I understand the concern about possible quality or lack thereof, but is this much different to the situation we're in every close-season? In the respect that players will always hold out for a better deal than us rather than signing right away. I'd love us to be signing up quality signing after quality signing, but at the end of the day, most of the players we'll be going for will have at least a half decent chance of getting full-time football so I can't imagine they'd jump at an offer we made them early doors.

DUMBARTON FC RULE!!!

Well in that case... I wish there was something positive too on the signing front, but in Stevie we trust, PITK etc.

Would it perk your spirits a bit if John Baird was spotted within a well-known supermarket buying some hake?

Despite not being in a position of strength numbers wise, we've dodged a bullet with Samson as far as I'm concerned.

Mark Stewart has left Raith Rovers and Ryan Hardie I believe is a free agent. Two players I certainly wouldn't mind us trying to attract... when Stevie returns from holiday of course.

Both myself and @Sonsteamof08 we're of the same opinion regarding Lang when he was released. It just now puts pressure on Aitken to get in suitable replacements, and he'll, as all managers do, live or die by his signings and how well they do.

I agree that with each couple of days that passes with no new signings news, it does bring slight concern, but it could all look a good bit rosier with a few signings on say, Thursday, just as an example. I know it'd be ideal to have most of the squad signed up and pre-season friendlies arranged etc, but we're not in an ideal world. We will be waiting on players, we do have a manager on holiday. What I would be concerned at would be if there wasn't a tonne of work being done by those as the club and ID to make sure we hit the ground running when the time comes, regardless of Stevie's current holiday.

I see what you mean, fair enough. If he decides Ayr isn't for him for whatever reason, I'd more than happily take him as a replacement for Alan Martin. Something tells me we'll be looking for someone else between the sticks though.

I don't profess to know the distances etc, but I'd think Dumbarton would be slightly shorter, but not by much. I'd be surprised if travel was a deal-breaker for him though, he'd be severely restricting himself if that was the case.

Yeah, Greg Fleming would be a very good replacement for Aldo, but as you suggest, it's all just conjecture at this stage. If it were to be down to travelling as you also say, it would limit him somewhat. I just can't say I'd be enthralled by Craig Samson at all... I notice it says they'll consider it and have a decision in 4-6 months. Hardly a quick resolution is it? Although as long as it's the right resolution, that's all I'm hoping for.

Yeah I'd noticed that too. They seem quite defensive about it that his contract just 'needs tweaking' and he's on a two-year deal anyway, but I don't think he's a definite to be staying at Ayr next season, given that he seems to be one of the few who haven't committed to full-time yet. I'd certainly take him in a heartbeat should he become available.

I don't know anything of Henry and I'm in the same boat as you with regards Samson. Always been a bit Langfieldy IMO in that he might be solid for a bit but you're always waiting for him to chuck one in.

I can't really add anything different which conveys my thoughts than this to be honest. At the end of the day, it's been vastly unproductive with regards to first team players or sell-ons, it costs money and any decent players get cherry-picked anyway. It's a sad indictment on the state of the Scottish game, but I can't say I disagree with or will shed any tears over our youth set-up being disbanded, as sad as it is for those involved. I listened with interest to Andy McLaren's thoughts on it and he made a lot of sense. But I think that while the whole 'community football' and 'making it affordable to all' aspects have immense value, it's really a very different kettle of fish for YDI's for the likes of Dumbarton. I'm all for football in the community being improved and making it available for all and not making it available dependant on class or income, but at the end of the day, clubs like Dumbarton get comparatively minuscule return on a YDI whilst presumably, making a relatively sizeable outlay. Therefore it makes sense to disband it if the little funding we get already is being decreased or even withdrawn completely. I'd love to see Baird in a Sons shirt and the optimist in me thinks it'd be a good match for both. Whether there's the remotest chance of it happening is another thing altogether though...

I wouldn't expect Stevie to not tentatively insert himself into any managerial merry-go-round or leave his options slightly open despite having signed a two year deal with us. I can't say I'm happy about it, but that's the way it is. He's our manager and I hope it remains that way. I do have a slight worry about a possible forthcoming managerial vacancy in Paisley though...

Maybe I worded it wrongly, but my 'defying his age' comment was in relation to the fact he's very good organisationally and positionally, not in relation to his pace. Apologies![emoji23]

I asked the question earlier in the week regarding why our budgets would be reduced. Half rhetorical and half actually wondering why. Skyline Drifter as he said above, gave a very detailed and well reasoned answer. The visits of Hamilton (for example), Brechin and Inverness will in no way compare to Hibs, Ayr or Rangers, so our budget will take a hit there. (It was SD who came up with figures, it's not my forte). We have a core support that is neither swelling or shrinking, we have minimal (read SFA) investment from our glorious leaders and little to no non footballing revenue streams as far as I understand. So I think to have a smaller budget isn't to be wholly unexpected. Yes, I'd love us to have been able to keep hold of Alan Martin or offer a tempter to Gregor Buchanan. But at the end of the day, we're a pretty small fish in a comparatively big pond, and a part-time fish, if you will, at that. I'd much rather we spent within our means (whatever that may be), just look at livi, Airdrie, Dunfermline and others, than spend a few bucks more which could jeopardise our stability and future. Something we of all clubs can ill-afford to do, particularly at this time.

I wish Gregor Buchanan all the best in his move to St. Mirren. I'd hoped we would manage to keep ahold of him, but he was excellent for us last season overall and I don't begrudge it when a player like him makes the step up. He's athletic, strong, pretty quick for a centre half and defying his age, he's very adept organisationally and positionally. I don't doubt he'll be a real asset to what's becoming a really decent sounding squad Jack Ross is building with you guys.

It's no surprise that Gregor has moved on and when any of our players move on to a full-time club, I don't really grudge them it. He's been excellent for us and a really dependable defender last season. He developed a good partnership with Barr. I think we always expected him to make the move back to full-time, it was just a matter of when. It does give us a fairly substantial hole to fill and it does make the decision to release Lang as quickly a bit hasty. I can only trust Aitken has irons in the fire in that respect, which I'm confident he will do.

Yeah obviously I can only base my opinion on him on last season on games against us, but yeah if he's not banging them in for you guys at the top of the league, I'd love to see us at least try and sign him, were he to become available. He'd be a regular starter for us I'm sure and I think he would score goals for us, something which when you're battling at the bottom is huge, having a regular goalscorer in the team you can rely on. We'll see. I highly doubt we'll sign him for a number of reasons and this is all very hypothetical at the moment, but I'll listen with interest to see what he does over the summer.

I think while Nade does struggle with injuries, that's no secret, I don't think he looked particularly 'unfit' as such, more issues with mobility. Which i suppose are intertwined, but I think it's just his style. As has been said, he can thread a great pass and is still a force for opposing defenders to deal with. I think as has also been said, working with Aitken again can only be a good thing and I reckon with a good pre-season and a decent rub of the green, he could be great for us for a full season this time.

Cheers. I know he's not rated by you guys but we're at opposite ends of the spectrum and he's someone I'd love to see down our way.