Disc Potato

Some great rivalry back in the day. Some very good lads in the Cowden support, Vince Sinclair, big Scottie and Wee Jimmy that sells the half-time draw. Was rooting for you in both playoffs and happy you’re still a league club. It’s in our hands to also make sure we retain our league status. Still love the Cowden away day and that is something that would certainly be missed.

Loan deals can still be done next month. Willis had the heart the size of a pea and was nearly sacked earlier in the season. Good when it suits him but not one we need right now. Lewy Barr a much better player and Knox can play that role. He’ll get a few splinters sitting on the bench at Peterhead.

Yes Tranent offered a fee for him but he didn’t want to go back there. He is a tough tackling Gary Bollan type.

You’ve signed Jamie Todd who will replace Marsh. Decent player at this level, would benefit from having an experienced head alongside him.

Surprised you’ve gone for Greg Hurst. Had two spells with us and was shocking in both. A sign of how difficult it is to get players in this window. Munro on the other hand was great business.

Just had a very positive message from someone that knows a lot more than me and Adamson could be a very good signing. I am worried about making it to the top of the Hampden steps, so I probably agree with you here.

I fancy my chances of getting 20 goals in a league featuring Tweedmouth, Hawick and Peebles.

We made an offer for George Hunter in May, you’re a little late with that news. Serioulsy getting the Heebie Jeebies about this window and the remainder of the season.

Not quite getting this. Albion Rovers under Harper have earned 3 points from 3 draws. Berwick under Harvey have 8 points including 2 wins, one against Albion Rovers. How have Albion improved more under their new manager? we’ve extended the gap by a further 5 points since changes. We’ve also played games missing numerous key players through injury and suspension.

There is a lot of work to be done with our squad. It’s very early days and the priority at the end of this window is to ensure we have enough to stay up. Agree with Redcar on the Healy debate. He’s been excellent and he has improved massively in four months of senior football. Had you put Goodwillie, McAllister or Henderson in our team in place of Healy, their goal return wouldn’t have been much greater. He’s young and getting better with every game. We need attacking options to play off him and hopefully get See fully fit. We were a much poorer team while Healy was injured. Brennan is ok and no better but Allison has done well so far. Forbes has done well in the right back position and looks a good signing. Not sure about the centre of our defence. Regardless who else comes in, I’d keep Cook. He is young and on an upward curve. A new left back should be a priority. Orru can’t pass and can’t defend. He goes on one run a game and everyone’s thinks he is a world beater. He is a liability. Midfield is getting there although Knox has to play central as he doesn’t have the legs to play in a wide position. Brown needs to continue his good form and Barr is a terrific player. Lots of energy and craft, he’ll only get better. Murphy looked good early season, I’d like to see him get a run when he is fully fit. What we need is a leader with league experience and at least one other who has played at a decent level to bolster the squad. I like the managers brave calls and he has confidence in his own ability to get a squad he wants. We are in a precarious position but confident we will survive and get stronger next season. Budget is fine and no excuse. Hopefully Saturday goes ahead and we get it out the way before a run of more winnable games. Dougie, you seem to have a real problem with the board. There’s only five directors now and all pulling in the right direction. I took a football administrator and a guy that owns a huge drilling business on Saturday and they both commented on how good the hospitality from the board was. This can only help attract future sponsors.

Really unlucky not to get a replay yesterday. Confidence running through the team right now and football great to watch. Robbie Horn deserves huge credit for plucking Daryl Healy from Selkirk. What a player the lad is turning into and the improvement he has shown over the last three months has been fantastic. Great buzz about the place again and some great work been done off the field by the board.

Great draw for Cowden. Congratulations on your win yesterday. Good to see after the heart attack material they put you through in the last two years. Enjoy guys.

So how did you get on today. Happy to take you on for £500 who finishes highest Stirling/Berwick

Now now, I wish Stirling the best of luck tomorrow in the Scottish Cup.

Players can be signed on amateur contracts but only 30 days after their last professional match. The "Penicuik Three" can't be registered until early December. Then from the 1st of Jan, they can revert back to a professional contract.

Last time we won back to back league matches in the same season was 24th April 2016. In that period we've managed two wins on the bounce if you include the Scottish Cup but not collected 6 points from two consecutive league performances. Fingers crossed for the weekend.

Apologies, fail was a badly chosen word. Stirling Albion's delay in appointing a new manager would have fitted better. Dont see why a club needs the best part of four weeks to fill that role at our level. Didn't do your chances of progress any good yesterday. I was rightly crediting our board for their decision. I'm quick to dish it out when things are going badly but happy to credit when it's deserved.

Berwick act to fill their vacancy with the cup match in mind, Stirling Albion fail to fill their vacancy. In a cab, how did those teams do today?

Nothing against Miles or Jim who is leaving after Saturday's match but it's surely for the best that a manager appoints his own backroom team. I think our recruitment team deserve a lot of credit for this appointment and the speed at which they moved to have a new manager in place with two sessions ahead of an important cup game. If we had been in Stirling Albion's position there would be huge unrest ahead of Saturday. Fingers crossed for this weekend.'

For the doubters, sorry but I wouldn't waste my time coming on a Dumbarton thread to spout rubbish. There are a few clubs disappointed by the list of applicants for the vacancies at the moment. I would be crediting your BOD for thinking outside the box and looking at alternative options. If this comes off and still an IF, be a great move for Dumbarton. I would be over the moon if Berwick had made the move for this lad, personally think he'll be a very good manager. Our board wouldn't know where to start with such matters.

Hearing Dumbarton likely to make an approach for a striker currently at an SPL club to become their next manager. Heard a lot of good things about him.

Absolutely gutted to see Robbie leave after the game on Saturday. I feel for him and as BM says he will bounce back when the time is right. He was the right man for the job but preparations for this season were not good with developments in the boardroom. The post below isn't meant to point the finger at anyone but more a look at how difficult the job of managing Berwick Rangers has become. We are reaching one of the most crucial periods in the clubs history and everyone needs to be together to see us through. The threat of relegation is real and getting closer by the day, the outcome of that is honestly not worth thinking about. Looking back at the last four managerial appointments, I believe all four were good decisions but the one common denominator was evident with the quartet and that was the struggle to attract the right players to the club. The four were all good coaches and tactically knew the game. I didn't agree with the way John Coughlin handled his exit first time around so I didn't entirely agree with bringing him back but certainly didn't doubt his managerial skills. During John's first spell as manager he had a good group of players with a solid backbone with the likes of O'Connor, Horn, McNicholl and Wood. We were able to compete in the transfer market back then and also match wages, the additions of Diack and McGroaty made a huge difference to the pool when joining in the January window. Both based in the west and didn't have a problem with travelling. I am not saying we had a massive playing budget but other clubs had similar amounts to spend at that time and we pulled out a few stops to attract players to the club. Since then our budget has remained at similar level but other clubs have seen considerable investment and as a result attracted better players. Edinburgh City is a prime example of this and while competing with players in the same catchment area, the lure of that extra £50 - £100 a week is the difference. The answer certainly isn't to gamble and throw money at players we can't afford, we need to be sensible. This makes the job extremley difficult for any manager. The biggest factor is money and players tend to go where they get the most. Ian Little, Colin Cameron, John Coughlin and Robbie Horn were extremely good managers and getting some-one better is going to be difficult for the reasons listed above. Yes it could have been so different and we should be looking at a totally different squad right now had we planned accordingly this summer. Robbie was first told a budget, then that figure was reduced and then returned to the orignal figure before being increased at the end of the window. The club weren't facing any immediate cash problems and that extra 20% from the outset would have brought a totally different outlook. Of course it's much easier after the event but thankfully the people involved in making such financial decisions are no longer at the club. Players Robbie targeted are listed below, he knew what he was looking for and knew where he wanted to be with his squad but couldn't compete financially with a few moving to clubs closer to their home as well. Josh Peters (Queens Park), Kris Renton (Cowdenbeath), Alan Smith, Blair Henderson, Danny Handling, Scott Shephard, Liam Henderson, Adam Watson (All Edinburgh City). Johnny Court (East Fife), Dougie Hill (Brechin City), Dean Brett and Alan Horne both decided to stay at Bonnyrigg, Peter Ramage (USA), Jamie Longworth (East Kilbride), Andy Little (not sure where he ended up). There will be many more I don't know about and have forgotten but just imagine how demoralising that was for Robbie. Knock back after knock back. Looking forward, I have been saying for a while that the SC and ST need to go public and put there shares up for sale in the hope they can find a buyer/invester to come on board. People keep saying there is nobody out there but it costs nothing to find out. After all we have a player in our squad right now that was part of a deal that offered to put 600k into a club in our league during the summer. We aren't we speaking to him or made an approach. I wish good health to Robbie and as a friend and supporter thank him and his coaching staff for their efforts. Good Luck to Lenny, John and the rest of the board this week with the task of finding a replacement. Personally I think there is a standout candidate in Johnny Harvey.

Berwick Rangers helped develop young star Jack Hamilton last season which has seen him progress to become a first team player. We are hoping to get another young Livi player on loan again this season and I am aware of the financial burdens in running youth teams at all levels. I was told that the charity funded West Lothian foundation who own your new pitch and could let the youth teams play for free this year, they still turned down the opportunity to take over the Livi youth system because they could not cover the projected season losses?

You asked for an explanation, I gave you a very honest view on my thoughts as to what has happened. This is best left here.

The 3 directors that have left were seen to be operating as a board within a board and leading the club into obliviation. One a sheep farmer another that works in PR were turning up at training and criticising the coaching. They are nicely qualified to do this. Other ludicrous decisions have been made by them, such as removal of the stair lift and over turning decisions when other directors have left the country, this caused major unrest in the town. Their decision to leave has created vacancies on the board which will allow more able directors to be appointed and also bring harmony to the boardroom. This in itself should bring a lot more stability and guidance to the football club. The disruption has helped bring the two main supporters groups together which will also benefit the club moving forward. The management team may also feel a little more comfortable without big brother watching how they were training the players. Murray "missing" McLaren is the longest serving director on the board and invested a lot of time and money into the club. He has stepped forward with cash when the club have needed it most. He has also been responsible for finding previous shirt sponsors and bringing other revenue into the club through his business contacts. He's due a little more respect. 3 down, 2 to go, then it's time to start looking to the future with a little more optimisim.