GroundskeeperWillie
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Posts posted by GroundskeeperWillie
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2 hours ago, Diamonds are Forever said:
Great example of how impossible it is for referees. He basically said the law says the referee got it right, but I don't like the law so the referee got it wrong. Absurd.
Precisely - for what its worth Don Robertson had a great game considering refereeing the Old Firm is a bit of a poisoned chalice, you're never going to win regardless as both sides have a crackpot 'it's a conspiracy' mentality no matter what. I've no doubts whatsoever that if that was either one of the cheeks playing against 'tha diddeezz' there would have been no complaints about that being overturned, said wee team would have been expected just to suck it up, thems the breaks etc.
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14 minutes ago, Miguel Ángel Espínola said:
The quality of squad recruitment at Clyde FC has become a growing concern among fans and stakeholders in recent seasons, largely due to the inclusion of several players who can be categorized as poor-quality signings. While there have been some promising acquisitions that have showcased their talent and dedication to the club, there have unfortunately also been instances where the recruitment choices have fallen significantly short of expectations. These instances have resulted in underperforming players who struggled to make a positive impact on the team's overall performance, often leaving supporters frustrated and disappointed. It is imperative that the club's recruitment strategy undergoes a thorough review and overhaul. Striking a balance between securing experienced players who can make an immediate impact and nurturing young talent for the future is essential. The effectiveness of recruitment efforts will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in determining the team's performance on the field and its ability to achieve its competitive goals. As dedicated supporters, we fervently hope to see a more discerning approach to recruitment, one that eliminates the inclusion of poor-quality signings, ensuring that we have a squad capable of consistently competing at a high level and restoring the club's reputation for excellence in squad building.
Executive summary - f**k me we're pish at signing players - let's hope for better soon
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Just now, HarleyQuinn said:
What makes this worse is that Hacken are very much beatable. Robson has royally screwed up here.
Would definitely agree with this. Looked like Robson got it badly wrong on the tactics front, and was way to slow to change things up. I think someone said earlier he'll struggle to see out the year, as much as Aberdeen need consistency I think he may be in trouble even at this stage.
The drop off in form of Duk must be concerning for Dons fans as he looks a shadow of the player he was. Add to that a fairly ineffective midfield and some horrible defending (both Rubezic and Jensen looked fairly abysmal, Jensen in particular appeared to have no positional awareness whatsoever).
It's been fairly embarrassing for Scottish clubs all round in Europe so far. It amazes me how far our clubs have regressed while so-called smaller clubs like Hacken can build themselves to this position. There's been some spectacular thumpings this past couple of weeks.
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27 minutes ago, BullyWeeStonehouse said:
Remember the days we used to sign ex-Marseille players and guys from Wimbledon and Paris FC?
Bring back Aaron Wilford and Evangelino Valentim.
Distinct lack of Freddie Boniface on this list - very disappointing...!
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22 hours ago, SReplay said:
Saw somewhere that we may not be seeing Forbes in a Clyde jersey again. Rumours of a falling out between him and McLean.
I had heard it was an injury, but given Forbes most likely signed on because of Duffy, this wouldn't be a huge shock. I'd be disappointed in a way because he can be a capable player, but the perceived lack of fitness has been a bone of contention from day one.
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19 hours ago, Mattmc said:
Neither team were great but, Stranraer had far better chances. Tan Orr should have had us 1 up in the first half.
Walker and Orr missed sitters in the second half.
Obviously missed those chances because the players know their places and understand Clyde are far superior, apologies for Olly not reading the script.
I don't particularly disagree on the first part, neither side were what you would deem great (albeit for us, given how low the bar has been set, that was a decent outing) I would say the draw was by far the fairest result. I don't remember too many glaring misses from either side (but if you're going for two in the first half, I'd offer up Fraser Malcolm's chance in the second which I felt at the time he should have got on target at least).
Don't see at all where you are seeing any Clyde fan thinking we should have won, apologies if that feels like the case.
Also, I'd also like to add my kudos to Olly for the muted celebrations after the winner. I know it's a particular bugbear to some that a player who has left one club for another doesn't celebrate scoring against his former club, but I thought it showed a bit of class from him to not attempt to give it the big 'un, indeed I could see him also trying his best to acknowledge the Clyde support
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2 hours ago, Clyde01 said:
To add to our woes from yesterday, the ‘goal’ we scored was clearly onside.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure that's a great angle to judge it on. Using the lines, it looks like his left leg is possibly ahead of the central defender's. I know there were a few grumbles about the offside decisions called against Ji Stevenson yesterday, but for me most were correct.
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1 hour ago, Clyde01 said:
It says a lot about our summer recruit that even one person is regretting releasing Olly McDonald.
Had we gone for a reasonable upgrade, but I think what Olly showed today is what I thought he showed with us at times last season, an ability to find space and he is not a bad finisher. Too bad Duffyball last season had us shelling aimless high balls up to him and hoping he can turn water into wine.
He had come onto a reasonable run of goalscoring form towards the end of last season (sadly when it was too late for us) and I still feel he'd have made an impact for us. But hey, just an opinion and I know I'm probably in the minority in that respect.
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Football always seems to find a way to give you a punch right in the nutsack doesn't it!
Just moments away from a credible draw, and a momentary lapse allows the player we deemed not good enough for this season to score against us.
Fair to say we didn't deserve to lose that one - nor did we deserve to win it. Draw was the fairest result all in, given neither side really troubled each other all that much.
The atmosphere just had a slight feel of resignation all round though - not a great away support at all (not sure if some folk were in the big main stand, but quite a few notable absences), but at least there were some heartening performances.
Peter Grant did really well and actually his partnership with Logan Dunnachie was a positive. Perhaps something that is needed is an experienced head to guide Dunnachie through the game, as the communication between both was excellent. For all that big Erik is a very good defender, communication - and sometimes his speed of thinking and rash decision making - can cause us issues. Also felt Darren Hynes was strong in midfield, an area we are badly struggling with.
Actually felt the levels were up with the likes of Forbes and Carswell not in the team, I'm still willing to give them time to bed in, but the fitness levels and athleticism was much increased today.
My only niggle was I felt we didn't do enough to exploit the rather brave ploy by Stranraer to play without a right back. The amount of space Ji Stevenson (who looked really sharp and impressed, even if he needs to be a bit more positionally aware with regards to being constantly caught offside...) had was unreal, but we didn't use that to our advantage enough.
Oh well, the red wine will just have to console me this evening....!
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Clearly, the budget chasm is always going to dictate games like this, but some of the Hibs defending has been rank. I genuinely believe a corpse could have been staked to the pitch in the right back position for that entire period and still been able to defend better than Lewis Miller. And while Paul Hanlon has been a brilliant servant for Hibs over the years, this showing exposes a lot of his weaknesses now.
Damage limitation second half clearly, but it could very much be a cricket score.
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Just been catching up on all of this as been enjoying my holidays. Firstly, obviously at least it's a mercy that at least one sorry chapter of this club's recent inglorious history has been closed in the shape of Duffy finally being given the tin tack. Maybe it's just the cynic in me (years of false dawns, amateur hour decisions at the highest level of the club etc have given me a world weary view on things) but it seems funny that punting Duffy came on the eve of potential fan protests and talk of the fan revolt leading to calls for an EGM. It's almost as if Gordon Thomson had an inkling his card had been well and truly marked...
Yes, with Duffy now gone I can understand why some are calling for a moratorium on any further action to prevent greater unrest, but it's clear to me that serious questions need asking around some of the decision making that has gone on at Clyde FC, and the buck ultimately stops with the chairman. I'd be all for giving someone else on the board an opportunity in the interim if that's what needed, but for me Gordon (and I'm sorry to say it because I know, like us, he's a fan of the club and I'm sure has its best interests at heart) has made his position untenable and should do the honourable and stand down.
The club is needing direction and unfortunately we can't be rewarding failure, which we appeared to do when we moved Jim Duffy to DOF.
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It's worrying how far we are regressing as a club. The last two results amplify how far we've fallen.
For all of the investment and potential that has been promised, none of that is going to matter one iota if the product stinks and the fans end up completely pissed off (more so than at this current time).
Serious questions need asking about the Head Coach/DOF arrangement because something's not right there. And it's also threatening to be just like what was feared when the appointments were being announced (i.e. merely a case of shuffling the deckchairs on HMS Clyde the Titanic)
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I'm going to claim the 'Clutching at Straws' award for the night in just being thankful this hasn't been our start to the league season.
I've been a vocal critic of the League Cup starting this early, mainly for the reason that not being able to field trialists means in some cases either not being able to fill the bench or making panic signings. In our case though, I doubt we'd even be able to source appropriate trialists!
From these games, all that was expected was to try and get some confidence into a club. and fanbase, that was royally demoralised last season. This was more akin to a statement of resignation than a statement of intent.
In terms of the signings situation (i.e. re-signing Parry and signing Carswell when injured) similar could also be applied to Ray Grant (out till whenever).
Just have to hope that what was mentioned earlier (i.e. supposed money available) is put to good use between now and the Spartans game a week on Saturday.
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53 minutes ago, Kelheart said:
Are you sure we have the same Cunningham boys scored from half way the night and been brilliant for us
I'm still of the opinion he came back too early from injury last season. The injury he picked up turn of the year (I think it was against Airdrie) at the time appeared to be a season ender (certainly looked and sounded a bad one at the time).
I think he's a talented player, and for me rather than laziness I got the impression - given the amount of injuries he's suffered - he was more afraid of getting injured again.
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21 hours ago, PTR said:
Bad points;
No team should lose goals like the first three tonight. The first is nobody taking command and Grant should have put the ball out the park for in the lead up to the second. Overall, defensively too fragile. The habit of folding and conceding quick goals seems to have carried over.
Rennie doing Rennie things. Won little then should have scored if he'd taken a gamble on a cross.
Good points;
Attacking set pieces seem to actually carry a threat. Forbes nearly scored directly and Sula and Grant should have scored. Liam Scullion was very good, especially thinking about where he was last year. He seemed by far the most vocal on the pitch in terms of leading. Conor offers some forward thinking and drive and, whilst not thinking there's a world beater, in think there's something to work with.
The second half was pretty decent. Cove were getting pretty frustrated with Clyde's pressing and were starting to argue with each other. Cove's 4th was a cracking goal and the killed it but the second had m half had been a contest (although that happens with a team is 3-1 and comfortable)
Mulvanny getting a goal can't be bad news.
I get the doom and gloom generally but Clyde aren't going to play sides as good as Accies or Cove in the league. They're obviously a lot better.
It isn't exactly a great side but there's something resembling a team and I'm not completely pessimistic overall, but the unescapable fact is there's still a vulnerability. Looking forward to seeing the shape of things v Brechin to start to gauge a bit better.
Bit late to the party on this one (apologies!)
So, I can get the obvious feeling of despair given we've shipped 8 goals in two games. For me, it's felt a bit frustrating that the clear and obvious issues of last season haven't been fully addressed (leaky defence, non-existent midfield). In that respect, while I think by and large he's a cracking player, Erik Sula still has one too many bombscare moments for my liking (one he got away with against Hamilton). In midfield, I'm hoping when Carswell returns he can provide the cushion between defence and midfield we need, because we don't have that defensively minded midfielder who can cover our defence (Forbes was tasked with it v Hamilton and was clearly blowing out of his arse after about 50 odd minutes).
However, at this moment in time I'm not seeing it as all doom and gloom. The farcically early start time of these fixtures means it's impossible to gauge fully what any team is doing. I get in some way the appeal but it just feels like a glorified pre-season tournament to me.
To that extent, I was never going to get carried away if we had started well, or the opposite. From what I've seen so far though, the style of play does feel different (aided undoubtedly by the fact we've a technically gifted player in Forbes who can pick out a pass, regardless of his lack of fitness), while I've been impressed by the likes of Donnachie and - to an extent - Mulvanny. Unfortunately, given the way the club is, we have to adopt a model now where we are giving younger players an opportunity. And if we can unearth a gem then great. I've long felt the club made a bit of a mistake not trying to adopt some form of youth development programme, given our desire to be self-sustainable the best way is to mould youngsters who hopefully you can sell on.
TLDR - I'm sure we can all judge progress, or lack thereof, once the proper stuff comes around, it's a shame we are going into the meat and veg league stuff on some poor early form, but hopefully by then we'll have some positive squad updates.
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8 minutes ago, David W said:
I'm not a fan of telling others how to follow their team to be honest.
My positivity stretches to the following:
- I think that Sula, Grant and Carswell give us three decent options at centre half, with Dunachie an unknown. Given Duffy's previous centre half signings, I'd suggest he'll probably turn out okay. I think we'll be fine as a L2 team in that regard. Maybe not the best, but definitely not the worst.
- Whenever we get Ray Grant fit, a midfield with him, Cuddihy and Scullion has enough football about it to be competitive if we get someone physical in there. I think Grant's game will mean he'll return from such an injury reasonably well.
- I reckon that Ewan Cameron, if played centrally, will surprise people. If we stick him out wide, then he'll be ineffective of course. That said, if anyone is smart enough to notice that I edit this post in October, this is the bullet point I'll be deleting.
- There are a lot worse goal-scorers in the league than Martin Rennie, assuming he tries a bit harder and that we get the ball into the box more than once or twice a game.
The negativity stems from:
- The fact that signing youth players released from top division clubs generally do not turn out well; there are an infinite number of examples.
- If you look at our squad, you'd struggle to convince yourself that we fought off the challenge of other clubs to land any of our additions. Which signings am I supposed to be excited about based on actual evidence?
- We clearly have a poorer side that the one which finished with a diabolical point tally last season - we haven't replaced Roberts, Salkeld, Mullen, McLean with comparable quality or experience. We also allowed our first choice striker - regardless of opinions on his ability - to leave for a fee, and then made no successful effort to replace him.
- We have retained the likes of Hynes, Lyon, Cameron who have a lot of work to do to convince that they're up to this level.
- More importantly than all of the above, the overall malaise around the club, including the kit fiasco, general miscommunication, closed door friendlies etc.
Pretty much completely agree with all of this David. All the players we kept on I was pretty much of the opinion I wanted to stay (I'll be honest, I wouldn't have retained Ray and Barry personally, but only because of the concern as to whether they can maintain a level of fitness across the season, and in Ray's case, to what level he will be at when he fully recovers from injury - controversial I know, but given the circumstances we are in as a club, can we afford to pay wages to players who potentially spend a proportion of the season injured). I know he's not everyone's cup of tea, but I think Euan Cameron has potential, but as you say he needs to be played centrally where I think he carries more impact.
On your last point, I think its fair to say most of that has been a part of this club for a long, long time. The difference now is that we're not even getting the closed door friendlies reported in any way, shape or form on the official website. The communication side of things has always been a bit of a bugbear, but feels like its falling even further
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5 hours ago, Bearded Bully said:
If Clyde were to sign half the Man City squad, you lot would still moan... Here's an idea... how about getting behind your team and supporting them and the signings rather than sitting behind a phone/keyboard spouting pish and negatively.
For a moment I thought Gerry Dunn had created an account on this forum (such is the level of detachment from where we are currently)...
Joking aside, once the action kicks off, I'm sure everyone will 'get behind the team', but it can't be denied that good will and all that have been badly eroded over the past while. There hasn't been a proper feel-good factor since the promotion season under Danny Lennon.
In terms of the signings, I'll be hoping they succeed, because otherwise we are facing Lowland League and, obviously, the chances of survival as a club diminish even further. In fact, I have a, hopefully not misplaced, confidence that Brian McLean - with some fresh ideas - might give us the impetus we need. I just don't agree personally with how it's all come about (for me a fresh slate was needed as soon as we were relegated, but I can also see the board's point of view on it)
I'm all for the rampant optimism of the poster here, but given what has been endured recently, it's perhaps not a huge surprise that there's an air of negativity.
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2 hours ago, Walk Glasgow said:
Personally I don't give a toss about the kit. I want to know who we have signed - unless it is a company secret of course!
While in the main I agree, at the end of the day it's not really a case of the kit per se that's getting people frustrated, it's just an accumulation of the little things (this being one of them) that - after let's be honest has been a pretty meh pre-season so far - isn't exactly doing a lot to inspire confidence that we have the right tools to bounce back from what was an horrendous season.
And at the end of the day, if an organisation wants to encourage their stakeholders (in this case the fans) to invest in the product, you need to work on providing some sort of engagement that provides that incentive, otherwise the perception from the stakeholders is that the organisation has gone all Bob Geldof and is more interested in asking 'gies yer money'. Secret of success to any enterprise, small or large, run by volunteers or otherwise, is good stakeholder engagement, make them feel they are part of the journey, so to speak.
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Just now, Mark Connolly said:
The foul on Porteous early on where he then nearly aquaplaned down the tunnel was excellent
It had shades of some of the early PES games where a glitch meant you could put in a super-sized sliding tackle that nearly put you out the stadium
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1 minute ago, djchapsticks said:
Not saying that tonight had it all but we bore witness to a 4th qualifying win to open a campaign for the first time ever, 2 or more goals in a 4th consecutive competitive match for the first time in 40 years, 6 days worth of rain falling in less than an hour leading to some wonderful old school leg-breaking ball stoppages on the puddles during the 6 minutes of action at the start, 6 kick off delays, 2 hours of squeegees and confusion, 4 pitch inspections a massive tantrum leading to a temporary lock in, some very nice football, a cracking second goal, a missed penalty and a legitimate threat of a full blown senior Scotland International being played at St. Mirren Park.
But apart from that it was shite.
I think there was a moment early on where I was genuinely worried Billy Gilmour might end up with the bends after recovering from one tackle...
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Top, top showing from the young man tonight, played with an immense level of maturity and I actually felt the midfield looked a bit more solid for him being in there. It gave Calmac a bit more freedom to burst forward, which he did to tremendous effect, plus it kept the shackles on some of Georgia's more talented front players
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Thank goodness we only needed a few squeegees to clear the pitch, rather than requiring the intervention of Moses to part the waters... After the first goal went in I was convinced I would be celebrating a famous Scottish victory in the first and only Georgian invitational Water Polo championships.
The fact we've produced such a polished, professional performance with all the circumstances and drama going on says it all for how well we are doing right now. Four wins out of four in a group we were all certain at the start of qualifying we'd be potentially fighting for third place in is just superb.
Thought it was a great bit of team selection by Steve Clarke to put Gilmour in, close to being man of the match for me, some of the defensive work he put in and his distribution was excellent.
I'm similar to a previous poster, in that for just over 30 years I've watched the best - and worst - of Scotland (I still rank that 0-0 friendly against Hungary as a game where prosecutions could have been handed out). But right now, it feels bloody good to be a Scotland fan and I'm going to just embrace it for as long as it lasts!
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9 minutes ago, Gordon EF said:
We're clearly entering a period of Scottish domination in world football.
It's almost like we've gone into cheat mode in Championship Manager (which at times I wish the Clyde board were able to deploy!!)
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49 minutes ago, HuttonDressedAsLahm said:
Yeah I’d definitely agree. Georgia should have been battered by Norway. How Norway have a single point is incredible given they’ve been the better team in all 3 games.
Georgia’s recent results are massaged by being in both a very weak WC Qualifying group, and a terrible UNL Group C.
I expect them to be more organised and better than Cyprus/Armenia, but not levels above that.
Watching the Cyprus game on Viaplay there, they have a bit about them up front and Kvartasheila clearly is a technically gifted player. But defensively, they are dreadful and while I'd be obviously a bit wary about them in Tblisi, at home I don't think I saw anything for us to really fear. Physically I reckon we have the edge and if we can get Hickey and Robertson bombing forward on Tuesday their full backs looked a bit suspect.
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Cyprus V Scotland 8.9.23
in Tartan Army Ramblings
Posted
I think it says it all about this beautiful team that we haven't really needed Adams to be in the game much at all to still be dishing out a hammering.
I think what's been most impressive hasn't just been the scoreline, which obviously is great at this stage, but the fact we are controlling possession mainly, pinging passes about left right and centre and generally haven't been (other than a couple of chances after the opener) troubled.
I'm delighted for Porteous more than most because, despite some of the unwarranted stick he gets, he's become another consistent performer in a Scotland shirt and just feels great for him to get a goal.
Thought I'd post all of this now before my ramblings become even more drink-laden....