Officer Barbrady

Don't shoot the messengers. We had our own struggles during the Duffle's time at Ferranti, so plenty of other clubs able to pick and choose obviously came to the conclusion of not hiring him for a variety of reasons. His style, more than likely being one for each of them.

Your username is a belter, tbf. That's probably the signing-on fees your club dishes out. The truth is, we don't really give a shit what you spend. But it stands to reason that if you were shite and getting rogered every week, would you not be quick asking questions of how the club can look to recruit better players? Anyhoo.... You see, in football, there's this thing called 'rivalry'. When a team does well, people hate them. When they don't, no one cares. Now, i don't hate Edinburgh, or see them as a viable rival in anything other than a mutual quest to win the divisional title. And so, undermining the confidence of players, fans and officials by any means necessary is fair game. Pointing out various aspects of where in see flaws in both the model and how its supported appears to have agreement implied, as no one's told me yet that i'm wrong. It's just a wee bit of belittling intimidation, nothing to get upset over. The material which has already gotten a bite from your manager is frankly tame in the extreme. We've had Jim McInally in tears in the Press & Journal before. He knows now to keep it zipped.

None ever touched him because his football ideology was acid. How many players did he progress for other 'bigger' clubs? Darren Jackson and Martin Cameron? Allan Maitland by far a superior part-time manager. And Lennon not far behind.

A real supporter emerges.

Aye, right!! Team spirit it is, fostered by that wee child-bender wearing number 2. Nothing whatsoever to do with financial doping, of which everyone bar Newcastle Broon plead ignorance to the existence or source of.

You forgot the Mankynecks chucking it at Tannadice. That particular day of reckoning draws ever nearer. We might even get Falkirk as well for a wee bonus. We're going to need a bigger mantlepiece to fit them all on when this is all over.

Newcastle Broon, man aboot toon. Not.

Reasonable response Ally. But it would be remiss of me not to ask further about one or two answers. You mention being "a different club now" resulting in some having "drifted away", during a period of remarkable success in firstly gaining promition, then consolidating and now challenging. Something, instigated by someone, would surely have been a cause of people either choosing not to be a part of whatever it was, embracing it, or being "stuck in between", before success was forthcoming. And obviously this 'something' will have resulted in the excellent position the club finds itself now. That 'something' must have been discussed at some point, and then readily accepted, to elicit the reaction you have witnessed among your support. That is what i find difficult to believe in this, that such a thing has occurred and you don't know about it.

In the know, Newcy? Pished by 7am. What an example to lead by.

Depending on which way you mean, yes and no. Leaving a footprint in Scotland of course was always likely to be a condition of any departure. But the SPFL have moved heaven and Earth to promote the benefits of both Colt teams and cross-border competition using the very guinea-pigs they plan to slice right up the middle, of course via the Irn Bru Cup.

I'm sorry, but i simply do not believe (with the greatest of respect) that for a club of your numbers, and recent history, so many Edinburgh City supporters are as unsure and/or ignorant of the financial sitiuation surrounding the present circumstances. And before i get tore in, i couldn't give a shit if you were another Livingston, Gretna or even Queen's Park (who the original club was formed to emulate), as your clubs' dealings are your own. But you're fooling no-one. You have neither the numbers for a logical, docile distance between the unknowing proletariat and the perceived ruling class, nor do i believe the numbers you do have (or have attained since promotion) don't possess any knowledge of even the most basic level of communication. The Lowland League, and its recruiting of members was largely pursued via the summarisation that many lower-league (and even more Premier League- see your pals in the West of the city) established senior clubs had ran themselves into the ground (and the wall) chasing impossible dreams of success. The LL invitees were effectively lined up to be the organic, wholesome replacements for the 'failed' clubs protected by a glass ceiling. Weren't the clubs recruited for this venture not enlisted because of their commitment to abolishing the wreckless and ultimately doomed approach of so many Senior teams, by virtue of their own selfless, extensive community schemes and projects? I'd say they definitely were. So, upon Edinburgh, and the other 12 founding members of the LL commencing (proper) competition in 2014, i'd assume the sparse but hardy souls who populated their matches would know full well the majority of ins and outs throughout the football club. You were a club who did things differently, did them the correct way, as the narrative goes; not like the greedy, success-driven bluffers who'd collectively left Scottish football, a complete and utter disaster zone. You, and the other clubs, were part of the solution. You now had the route opened, to demonstrate how this was going to be executed. And you were very proud to be part of this, i'd expect. So, do you expect fans of other clubs, when talking about your circumstances (which is an enormous compliment to what you've acheived, HOWEVER it has been done), to really believe that chasing down success, while making some reprehensible signing decisions on their own, never mind the fucking wages, and forging a very good team in a short space of time - do you REALLY expect us to believe you genuinely don't know what is now occurring behind the scenes of what is the same club which 45 of you were watching, right beside the suits and decision-makers at the club not five years ago, when you'd most likely know EVERYTHING? I smell shit.

And why should they? They're a team, a business, a global franchise all of their own. It's the shitebags they have in their pay at Hampden you want to be concerned with.

Have we hit a nerve? A couple of comments from the big nasty supporters ought not to. You're meant to be professionals now.

Can you say with a straight face that every action since the last "no" they received to that, has not been done to be geared towards resurrecting talks on this? Even the liquidation of Rangers FC could easily be seen as a risky attempt to significantly reduce incomes, with the long-term view of forcing through any agenda even in the face of a 40-2 (or whichever numbers are allowed to vote now) majority. Would you have put THAT past the two of them, with the SFA a dolly plaything to be manipulated into delivering? All it takes is the slightest ray of light under the door becoming visible and they'll get what they want, somehow.

Which would be one step to a solution, but it's crystal clear that the SFA have not only been the enablers of these abuses from the two mutual-interest clubs, from almost their inception, but very often the orchestrators. Common sense approaches are foreign concepts in administrative circles not just in our football but in just about every authority in the land as it is. Bearing in mind that this idea simply just isn't going away, it's a fair certainty that it will happen eventually. Shorn TV deals, and the continuation of ill-conceived sponsorship from betting firms preying on the weak and stupid of society, until Poundland and Provident are seen as good bids for one or more of them, are very powerful and effective tools in driving down revenues, forcing alternatives to be found. They WILL get their way.

This, this, exactly this Brigton. On footballing matters, we certainly look ready and able to make the first step up this year. Even if we were to wait a year for that, we appear a more attractive option than before, but in getting to L1, i believe we'd be in a stronger position to exert our rightful authority on the coastal/Angus clubs by being able to recruit better quality - and that's where the infrastructure pays dividends. It's no secret that getting to this point has taken a significant effort, as he outlines several times. But that's a basic, 101 for all clubs. Dundee Utd, Thistle, Falkirk and Raith took the eye off the ball for maybe no more than a couple of months or two or three bad decisions, and look at the complete mess they're all in. Hibs too not that long ago, and even Killie for a while until Johnson buggered off (spot the common link there!). The fact that everything, absolutely everything has always been a struggle for us, could be a major bonus in remaining focused to delivering what Norrie sees as a realistic outcome.

The figures mentioned, along with what are clearly longer-term plans, i'd think are NOT centred on facing the glamour opposition you describe, but obtaining those fixtures being a means of the club setting about attaining where Norrie stated where he wishes the club to be, at the AGM, and that is in the second tier. Making us competitive for when we land in L1 is obviously something which is imperative in these projections. It's not quite in Alex Smith's 'five year plan' category, but arranging financial commitments within a reasonable timeframe isn't overly concerning, in my opinion, as Freddy Frye has already outlined. If we were to fail like we did under Smith in this, of course that would be different but it wouldn't change the fact that if the Chairman sees these opportunities, despite how it was run into the ground, and in a short timeframe has turned several outlets around, it's a perfectly reasonable avenue to go down. I'm not even sure if there is any actual money in the Championship, either, with the exception of increased travelling supports, but even at that, they're not as great as they used to be. Certainly nothing to base a business model on. Even so, if we were to get there, and stay competitive, having followed these projections and grown the club to such a position it is attractive for fans, players, sponsors and restores our reputation, and does so carrying fully manageabe debt utilities, the success in getting there would still be clouded by people's paranoid bullshit, by still listening to, and endorsing, the "previous incumbents" agendas, even with the evidence staring them in the face.

Everything in life worthwhile is not without risk. No one is following any club doctrine blindly, Haufdaft. At least, not any longer, thankfully. Norrie's engagement, with groups (the Glasgow Branch being one) and on an individual basis, is open to discussion if one is capable of it. If you personally found your "trust" broken by "previous incumbents", i'd have to ask how this exactly was the case? Did you question the previous administration on anything relevant? Did you receive answers which were later found to be impractical or without substance? I find it hard to believe that simply a football team's results can leave a grown man's trust in tatters - there must have been something else, surely, to evoke this devastating effect on a human being. Or did you just leave these matters to those in the know to sort them out? If so, you're hardly providing a consistent backdrop with what i concede is an entirely relevant and reasonable set of curiosities around our current Chairman's communication, it just really is just a terrific shame that this magnifying glass was not in use when the club faced down seven years of absolute chaos and destruction, without question or recourse on how to drive the club away from it's allegedly impending doom. Without the trolling, and public discrediting of criticism in past instances, this very argument would be on shaky ground under "previous incumbents", as anybody who offered a dissident opinion was readily denounced as uneducated and carrying an agenda by our apparently trustworthy Commissariat. This type of rigid, unquestioning adherence to the narrative is something only found in cults, not in reasonable and logical discourse. By all means, if you believe in what you say for the good of the club's welfare and prospects, share it, even canvas opinion of others if it's such a concern. But that doesn't change the glaring fact none of this was deemed necessary by you in particular, and the wider support at large, under the "previous incumbents" despite a far worse position on all fronts, and those who did received the equivalent of public stoning to death for voicing THEIR concerns. We never had it so good, back then!

To quote an oft-used phrase regarding people expressing views on the politics of the club, i ultimately see the benefits on the pitch, first and foremost that we are a top-three and no longer a bottom-three side. Given that Norrie has spent a chunk of his 18 months getting to grips with a completely new environment, i'm open to a lot of the ideas that are in sync with how things have taken shape so far. The fact that a great many of these fly directly in the face of what ALL Clyde supporters were told, over a number of years, has absolutely no bearing on this. This comes at a time after the club endured the most horrific period in its history, and in supposedly attempting to rectify the reasons for this, matters surrounding the ground, relations with various organisations and numerous events were staunchly reported from one perspective only. It appears that this perspective is still very much ringing in the ears of a number of supporters, despite clearly improved amenities and matchday functionability at the stadium - the very stadium that was going to kill us. I don't think you're showing antagonism to the Board, Haufdaft, i think it's to one man only.

Can i ask, how quickly results are to be expected, let alone demanded? The function suite is less than a year old. Yes, it is being promoted as an avenue of assisting club finance, but on gates of 600, and projecting the likely percentage of this who'd use such a facility regularly, the answer would probably right now, be a no - i think ee can safely say it probably isn't funding Danny Lennon's warchest. And if it was a roaring success even already, which businessman would be "shouting about it from the rooftops"? Do you think he's run this, to be surprised by the results? Or is it really the case, after all, that the club just cannot succeed at anything while at Broadwood, and that is simply that? Old news, that one Haufdaft. The majority of other outlined prospective ventures are , given our position, clearly aspirational. Full time managers, staff and players costs money, of course. Promotion clearly is an implied ingredient in providing the necessary grounds for the club to evolve in this manner. Playing the battered wife, "emotionally abused by previous incumbents", is really quite sad HD. None of these points were ever raised towards any "previous incumbents", whether you trusted them or not. The club was one goal from the Lowland due to that administration. You have evidence every Saturday of a performing team, an increase in marketing and social initiatives, a clear business development plan albeit requiring small steps due in no little part to the fact that 21st century football itself is a hard sell, and the man outlining it is held in mistrust and his intellect shot to smithereens. You'd never have pulled this trick six years ago over East fucking Kilbride, i can see that clearly.

I wouldn't worry HD, not a lot escapes your disapproving gaze when you get in the groove. And that's a good thing. Other than giving an opinion at the end of my post, which is entirely subjective, nothing 'may' be true about the three fields i outlined as improved (i can name some more if you like). They absolutely are. It's interesting you take up the deficit in what effectively is Year One for Norrie, with an easily detected undertone of disapproval. Given that several outlets exist for increasing revenue, which didn't serve anything previously like the level they do now, if at all, from open lounge facilities to mutually-beneficial HT draws, for starters. I'm sure projections will have been made on how these will aid in servicing this current shortfall, but again, that's subjective. I'm sure some will not be sure. What's certainly significant here is that none of this was even on the radar as potential fundraising alternatives during the last considerable loss, which resulted in the Generations top that was worn by (mostly) a bunch of complete fucking chancers driving us out of the League. What a self-fulfilling prophecy that was. Do you think, if more fans backed that initiative, we might have covered that loss (i was led to believe 49% of it was cleared by sales), and then won the league? We never had it so good, back then!

Who knows, indeed if he is concocting a devious plan, oor Norrie is definitely at pains to make sure it's well hidden. Maybe you'll find a clue in the capital letters? In the real world, i'd take a lot of the content as being things he may have noticed that have just perhaps not been explored or flirted with previously, not to the degree of the AGM with throwing buzzwords around to stir debate but seeing genuine potential surrounding the club's location and how this manifests with our current position. Things haven't just improved both on and off the pitch by coincidence, a lot of work from all at the club has gone in to turning us around in the table, matchday experience enjoyment and even being able to wear items socially and leisurely from an excellent merchandise range, to name just three. In under a year, sorting these matters out successfully, i'd say Norrie's more than earned the right to cast his eye further and look at what else we could be missing out on from infrastructure, local engagement and promotional activities prespectives which may have been considered beyond us previously or worse still, not considered as matters of interest for the club at all. We're in very good hands, in my opinion.

Based on the stories we'd been given from our currently-placed superiors, the situation of course was a gamble but like the post above, finding viable alternatives is clearly very difficult. Belmokhtar didn't, and neither Syvertsen or Lyons look likely, of nailing down a place. Having cover is one thing, but combining wages of potentially moved-on fringe players to accumulate a competitive wedge to bring in more quality would serve us better as we approach the must-win games like Saturday coming up. The team now appears reasonably settled, although the defence-midfield communications need to improve drastically if we're to maintain our unbeaten run.

To be fair, that's something Lennon's steered clear of where possible. DC and JB are the obvious ones, but we'd never have found their calibre for free in Scotland. Adam Martin was his only other loan, iirc, as Lamont was a Chapman loanee. CMS, Ray, Tom, Ally and big Kipre were all full Clyde players which kinda defeats a perfectly decent song otherwise.

Not strictly true, Jack. The Curious Case of Jordan Stewart has been an ongoing saga since September. Again, largely down to 2nd and 3rd hand confusion with the seemingly inconsistent official story. And his whereabouts and welfare were confirmed, by his reporting for training. It's good to have him back.