The Toun Clock

Plenty effort but as many others have said, his final ball is poor. I recall him playing wide right when Yogi first came in, this was because he had a good final ball but yesterday was woeful. I genuinely think he could play and play well as a sitter or even centre mid, he's looks physical with a decent engine and isn't bad on the ball until it comes to crossing.

Like the look of that mate, podcast and the logo! Really cool!

Genuinely shocked at both sets of fans in here thinking the penalty claim on Sammon should have been given. He started it off having the defender in a headlock then both went down, I’d be livid if that went against us. That being said, the header from a corner looked over, and if it wasn’t it was bloody close. Pretty crap game but I fully expected it after last week. Defensively we looked good, Benedictus has made a massive improvement and Breen looks good next to him. Both wing backs done okay, for me Edwards looks so much better on the ball than he did last season. Wee bit of luck with the Todd goal but it’s been a long time since luck went our way so we’ll take it. Hopefully now see a couple more come in and then the return of Hamilton from suspension and Dorrans from injury. Scougall was good for Alloa and I thought their keeper done well minus the goal.

Noticed Dundee Utd have let Declan Glass and another lad go to Derry and Kelty respectively. Hopefully they’re now in a position to start sending the young players out on loan and we might see the boy Mochrie come to us. Apparently Crawford has been training with us and McPake wants to sign. Can’t understand why we’ve not got this done, I can’t imagine wages are an issue. Our midfield without Hamilton and Dorrans very weak.

Main question here is would you have Gavin Johnson ahead of him?

I'd half agree with that actually, I think Montrose after the signing of Rory McCallister could be a bit trickier. I don't think Alloa will have enough over 36 games to challenge for top 4. Who knows though, wouldn't put it past the Pars finishing 7th again!

I don't know too much about Airdrie's team but I think they'll be there or thereabouts. I think some thought Kelty would be fighting it out at the top but with Potter becoming manager and a fairly quiet window I reckon they'll be mid table at best which would be a really good season for them. Pars have four good strikers but at the moment we seem to be playing 3 of them at the same time, the issue with that is they all want to me the main striker playing through the middle but two of them are having to play wider which isn't what they want to do. Our midfield is piss thin and a bit of a shambles although Chris Hamilton will win the Balon D'or at some point in his career, unfortunately suspended this weekend and next weekend. Defence is good but definitely need some cover in there. First couple of weeks will be a lottery as people will be bringing in players all through August, so you're absolutely right, the game between ourselves in September will be a big indicator, all teams should be bedded in by then.

Can only think it was the fact we exited the league cup after failing to beat another team from the division and Falkirk progressed after beating one of the Premiership big guns. There's a minor case of doom and gloom at EEP just now as our second half against Alloa reeked of last season. In all honesty, I don't think our LC campaign was all that bad, two comfortable wins, ran Ross Co close at Dingwall but the Alloa game was most recent and the worst. As a result it's taken the shine off what was a decent start and probably where this has came from. I personally wouldn't have listed us as favourites. I think Queens have a better squad at the moment, and I think John McGlynn is a good manager at this level, that being said I'd take our squad over yours even if it's severely lacking depth. Sounds like we're close to one or two players coming in. McPake is being fairly cautious over signings, not just bringing in for sake of it which for the fans has been frustrating but I'm hoping it pays off in the long run. The top four will have Airdrie, Dunfermline, Falkirk and QoS, I just don't know what order it'll be in.

Think we all knew it was the intention, now just official. Good move IMO.

New article RE the academy structure. Confirmed that Greg Shields is no longer involved with the first team and is now Head of Academy.

Let's be totally honest, if Dan Pybus was still here he wouldn't be challenging Chris Hamilton for the DM position. Will never fault DP's effort but he wasn't a great footballer, he won POTY as he became a bit of a cult hero with the YT because his name had the word bus in it and there wasn't another person who had done anything of note. Now would I sooner have Pybus as part of the squad than Chalmers? Probably. That being said, neither had the full package. Pybus didn't have much technical ability, whereas Chalmers is okay on the ball, just a bit of a sh*tebag about it. Chalmers doesn't have the effort and fight, whereas Pybus would at least try and get stuck in and run around. Maybe we could melt them down and create a decent all round midfielder, Dan Chalmers.

Thursday Pars fans. From memory usually quite a consistent pen gif day, be nice to get a couple of the recently named players in the door today. I’d stick the house on us signing Crawford since he’s been training with us, Mochrie would be decent from what I’ve seen so I’d very much welcome this too.

Courier running an article RE our interest in Mochrie.

Dunfermline Athletic 3-1 Alloa Athletic Falkirk 1 - 2 Montrose Kelty Hearts 2-1 FC Edinburgh Peterhead 0-2 Airdrieonians Queen of the South 2-1 Clyde

Unfortunately the effects of last season will linger on for some time to come.

Similar to the OP, a little concerned regarding new additions which results in a lack of excitement however I was fairly optimistic… until yesterday. Two really good new additions but yesterday reeked of last season, I gave the squad the benefit of the doubt, thought they would do better in L1 and they may well do so, but I can’t help but feel a stale stench is still lingering around the place. Pre-season friendlies aren’t for me and I’ve been busy for all of the league cup games so next weekend will be my first game of the season, I’m hoping it’ll feel different once I’m back, new coaching team etc but just really worried about the depth of the squad as it stands.

When I mentioned Chalmers and playoffs is was that he scored an own goal that essentially sealed our fate which resulted with being in the playoffs. He scored an OG against QoS in the last normal game of the season.

Any positives to take? I didn’t make it today although I was at the stadium at about 2:30 picking up the season tickets ahead of next weekend. I was quite surprised at how busy it looked, so when I realised the attendance was less than 2000 I was shocked. I honestly feel for Chalmers. He had a really shite end to last season when it was discovered he wasn’t very good and a bit of a shitebag. Then he scored the own goal that sealed our fate in the playoffs and he’s now missed a kick in the shootout which all but knocked us out the cup, the guy must feel lower than a snakes belly which is a concern considering he’ll be in for Hamilton next weekend and the following, such a big loss. I know Alloa were a bit of a bogey team for us but that result concerns me today. We need more bodies in, I know he’s waiting for the right ones but we really need some more quality. Hopefully there’s a chance to get some in before Saturday.

Incoming. Club have posted the old lady from Titanic "it's been 84 years" meme.

McPake has spoken to the media before the weekends fixtures. Courier reporting that JMcP thinks there'll be some movement soon but still relying on clubs up the food chain doing business etc. Also said Dorrans should be back in full training next week and available for selection circa second game of the league season.

Martin Harty - Has he been officially confirmed as a member of James McPake's backroom staff? I recall a few Dundee fans saying he'd probably be involved. There's an interview with Lewis McCann on the COWs today and he mentions him. Pretty good interview, touches on the difference with McPake and the coaches as opposed to the two last season, how much better it is etc.

Rubbish. Did Dorrans say a nasty word to you at Somerset? He's not the player he once was but when he played he was composed and gave plenty effort. Sold the jersey for a goal at Ibrox in the cup but do did everyone else that night.

Unlucky lads

He's maybe not some youth player but he's played about 15 games for us and hasn't done anything worth mentioning, just not someone I was planning to rely heavily on this season. Would obviously love him to prove me wrong, go on to have a stoater and earn a pretty sum for the club. Didn't mention Todd as he played in different positions towards the end of the season, although I've seen no pre-season or cup games so can't comment where/how he's played on those. No disrespect to either of them but if we have injuries and have to rely on Allan and Todd as a midfield pairing then we'll struggle.

Allan, Chalmers, Dorrans, Hamilton are our current centre midfielders. Dorrans hasn't kicked a ball this season, Chalmers is guff, Hamilton is a future Balon D'or winner and Allan is a good young player but I'm doubtful we can start a season with him as one of the first choice CM's. I feel we'll still see a handful come in but I'd be shocked if one of them isn't a CM. If Dorrans ends up being out for some time and any of the other three get injured then we're down to two. We need another keeper to challenge Deniz. We definitely need another CM and we need a wide player or two. The front line is sorted, four capable strikers who've been in decent enough form already.