Watson Nimrod

Yes I suspect there will be a statement about the manager at the start of the night that says he is staying on, I think most people have come to terms with that anyway. Can’t disagree with any of that, more specifically I want to know what we are doing to identify signings well in advance. From what I hear we have a guy who goes to L2/HL games but what are we doing to prepare for a new season. I also want to know why we can’t cultivate a better relationship with AFC or Dundee Utd who I personally feel is the better fit. I also want to know why we ended the season with 3 on the bench in crucial games. We forget a few extra bodies might have got us into the playoffs.

I’ve no real insight to our financial situation but I imagine it was a relatively heavy contribution. Of course we all storm out of meetings from time to time but I’ve wondered for a while if things really are ACE. I doubt Spain Park would be a safe haven, they have a plan and the ambition to have a crack at the SPFL. People come and go out of football, this is no different, but our reliance on corporate hospitality is worrying. Anyone who reads the tedious repetitive shite I ramble on about will know I genuinely believe that a more community based model is one we should be perusing and I’m interested to see what will be said on Thursday night at the get together. I’m not convinced we have the right people to drive our ambitions in that department. The club also have to realise that as the fan base slowly expands they will pick up new supporters whose voices deserve to be heard too.

Fair enough. Your keeper thought it was a ‘fucking joke’ maybe good for that keeper that he is moving abroad!!

Well thank the lord that’s over with, very very few positives from that season although like any year there has been some outstanding away games, some new stadiums for me (Annan and Stirling although I’ve now been to Stirling 3 times in 4 months and never really want to go back!!) and the great camaraderie at away games which makes you look forward to July or whenever the season starts these days!! Ive heard Hartley is staying, it’s not ideal but hopefully he himself will know things need to change, one would assume it’s the money to move him on rather than nepotism. Recruitment needs to be the priority and some new blood in the coaching staff as it’s very tired. Next season is a going to look very different. I hear one of our benefactors is moving on, I guess that might mean a new shirt sponsor () and I wonder what it will mean for our playing budget and the hybrid plan. 6 were told last week they are away and I suppose we will find out who it was next week. Targets need to be identified, we need to go back to attracting local talent who want to play for us. Plenty of talent in the HL, Montrose have recruited superbly as have Peterhead so we need to have a look at ourselves. We can’t have another season of stagnation while the club is trying to grow and establish itself as an SPFL staple. I was reminded today that the League Cup draw is only in a month or so’s time. Hartley gets 5/10 from me this season, he needs to do better if he is staying in post.

Pretty surreal game TBH, in fact had to think about it when someone turned to me and asked if it was still 2-1 as they had zoned out just like I had! A few will have played their last games, 6 going I heard a few times today and guess we will find out next week. I couldn’t honestly choose a man of the match. What was the story with this guy ….

A horrible individual who ripped our club apart. Yeah it was a wee Highland League diddy club but he ripped the soul out of it with his (can’t speculate exactly) nonsense. He was finished then and should be absolutely finished now. 3 years out of the game when he came to us was just a joke. Well our board are fairly gullible so that’s maybe the reason. He will destroy your club into the lower leagues.

Are you still behind the fraud Macintyre? As a Cove supporting Carnoustie resident I’m really sad you have gone down. I know it was a kinda forgone conclusion but that washed up nobody isn’t the answer for anyone. Yup harsh but it’s true I’m afraid.

Funnily enough I was in Starbucks up at Altens with my daughter one Saturday morning when Hartley was talking to Fraser Fyvie. The signing was announced the following Monday . I’m no Hartley fan but you can’t get much better than that. When he is fit he could still cut it 2 levels higher. But he isn’t on both fronts. Logan was a good signing as well as Mark Reynolds but I’m struggling to think of a young player he has signed who has cemented his place in the team. The bulk has been the HL lads who have seen us alright for too long. The scattergun approach in the summer was a dereliction of duty. Who signed off on that should be ashamed of themselves. I think Nick Suman has been the best of a very average lot, Mark Gallagher could be a player at this level and Kyle Connell as well but I’m loosing patience with the latter. A new manager is desperately required. It’s very clear that Hartley doesn’t have the all round skills required in this day and age. His motivation is dreadful, man management skills poor and his eye for a player is no better than an average fan.

I’ve no concrete facts but you hear things and it could be that some on the board want rid (he was almost binned after the Montrose debacle if that rumour that came from a player is to be believed) others want him to stay. I hope next Thursday isn’t a sign that he is staying for another season as that to me is what this little get together is seemingly all about. I am permitted to attend but sadly I’m off doing my best to pollute the planet at a conference.

Your sentiment is correct but I would slightly disagree about chucking it. The reality was that we needed Fyvie and Burrell to be firing at the same time as the signings were poor to say the least. When they did we could compete and we did. It’s hard when an era ends but that’s what’s happening now. Mitch hasn’t been prolific this season, Reynolds I’m afraid is done and Yule and Scully need supported moving forward. We simply have been set up to fail in the last half of the season. Poor forward planning, a misunderstanding of the loan market and a naivety of this division that’s baffling. We have been there before!! When Annan and Edinburgh City have bigger squads you know you have an issue. Root and branch clear out SHOULD be the order of the day it’s apparently what a faction of the board want, however I see a fans forum is set up for next week with the manager, chairman and conveniently the director of football. Supporters club only which harks back to the bad old days of the old guard agreeing with much of what the board says. Hopefully there will be enough there who will make it clear to the board that the manager must go, as should the coaching staff, goal keeping coach and anyone connected with this abomination of a season if you discount Roman Burrell.

After a few weeks off I’m looking forward to the trip down tomorrow, only the cynic would say that it’s because a QOS supporting client invited me to hospitality!! Nothing between the sides, I’m still relatively convinced it would be a bad dream that comes true for us to get into the play offs as we simply have done nothing all season to justify that end product. Indeed if Burrell hadnt went on that daft scoring run it’s likely we would be in dire straits tomorrow, as it is a win will take it to the last game of the season. Win or loose the jungle drums seem to indicate that wholesale changes are afoot in the close season. We can only hope.

Typifies everything that’s wrong with the club and the negativity that hangs over the ‘coaching staff’, it’s obviously deep rooted. I was actually staggered the final score was 2-3 as I gave up when we went 2 down

So the Accies have done us a huge favour and by a stroke of massive unfairness we now have the opportunity to grab pole position for the play off place, all of this despite getting pummelled last weekend and having a threadbare squad through piss poor decision making. Knowing how Hartley’s luck works I fully expect us to get the win now

There is a lot of deadwood at the club that are well past their prime, the dugout only seem to serve as protection for the manager from the occasional bit of direct criticism he gets from paying punters. Hopefully they will go at the end of the season as well as they serve no real purpose. I never hear a ‘well done’ coming from any of them. Sums it all up for me.

It’s actually quite staggering to think that a win for us tomorrow would actually put us in a reasonably strong position for the play offs. The downside is that we have never really looked like competing with Alloa in the last few outings. It’s a reflection of the bizarre season of apathy this has been. It’s a broken record from me that we find ourselves in such a strong position given that we will probably have 3 outfield subs on the bench tomorrow. It’s a picture of complete mismanagement although I just wonder if that’s by design from those who make the real decisions in the club. We can only hope. I forgot it was a 1730 KO so I won’t be there, I would hope for a 1-0 win. Burrell revelling in his place in the PFA team of the year.

Well done to Dundee from a Carnoustie based Cove fan! Had a few dealings with the ‘Doc’ down the years and he is an absolute gent and now a cracking manager!

I would give up a weeks salary for Richard Gordon to ask Hartley why his ‘Injury Crisis’ was caused by complete and utter ineptitude, falling out with players, not using the loan market properly and allowing our players to go out on loan. All the signs are that he is going thankfully.

Now, I’m sure I will be slated by players dads and longstanding superfans to my face but our club is in a fucking mess and time for someone to come out and admit it and tell us what the future is. Ive written countless times that the new manager needs to be someone who knows the transfer market at this level, develop the younger talent and energise the team. The numbers on the bench is a joke, Harley’s pish all week about a patch up squad is a joke. He fell out with players who have disappeared and others loaned out with little forward planning. The antics when any fan dares to criticise anyone in that dugout is staggering. I can see us missing the playoffs by 6/7 points. Hartley is going I’ve no doubt, the players on the park can’t do any more than they did today, it’s up to those in a position to make change happen to do it sooner rather than later.

Sadly other events will ensure that I’m not travelling today it’s a shame as I like seeing us play in a proper fitba stadium. Hopefully where we are we might get to watch the game on telly. I had to laugh at the pish the club churn out about a ‘patched’ up squad. If we hadn’t let players go on loan that the manager fell out with we wouldn’t have a patched up squad. If we keep it under 3 I will view that as a moral victory.

I imagine this will be a tight affair as although we are not that good we are not terrible and seem to raise our game against the better teams (Montrose an exception). My annual appearance in the posh seats for the actual corporate experience so any sort of result will be fine!

Indeed. I’m still relatively convinced the manager will not be here unless we miraculously got into the playoffs and did well. Even if we did I’ve got a gut feeling his time is up. I’ve no evidence to back this statement but I’ve heard players were starting to be tipped the wink last Sunday that things were not at all rosy. To quantify it’s maybe nonsense but I’m not convinced that it is. I wonder if the club simply took a view there was little point in getting rid now when they could save themselves a few quid. We won’t be relegated so had very little to loose keeping him on. Some ‘local’ players coming to the end of their careers at the end of this season already doing their coaching badges might be of interest and might create the headlines the club need to punch through the stagnation and re energise the club. I keep hearing the name Chris Maguire and not just in relation to one club specifically and I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s just in my head!!. Considine and Hayes also look close to retiring and they won’t all get jobs in their own set ups. Barry Robson won’t want to be kicking about for too long. The longer he is the more chance he would take a club like ours on. He might have to drop right down to get a chance as I can’t see anyone in the prem or the big clubs in the Championship taking a chance when proven managers come into the market. He is most certainly not proven. The change of direction to a younger fresher outlook would hugely benefit the hybrid model, any of the above would for a start lift the doom and gloom over that dugout.

It’s the sort of stuff if your clubs player did it it’s absolutely hysterical and instant legend status …. if it’s against your club then you run the bellend out of town

Interesting article about Connor Scully has been produced on the clubs propaganda channels. I say interesting because it seems to confirm the change of course the club is taking with the hybrid model given the utter disaster of the transfer window(s) and the alleged plan that our PT players would be allowed to leave when their contracts ran out. Not so if we are to believe this latest offering and with Fraser getting a new deal. With my tongue in my cheek I wonder how many players we have missed out on with our reluctance to sign PT players. Anyone who has seen Kane Hester turn up on a fairly regular basis would be forgiven for scratching their heads. It would almost make you wonder if the club really does have a plan at all

I’ve heard he is back at Falkirk but that came from the same source close to the club that told me Hartley was getting sacked last Sunday . Was an odd signing anyway, I’m no fan of Hartley but I would have sent him back for that pish anyway. No loss, whereas Golding and Gallagher are.

I’ve said all I have to say about how poor we are, I would expect a few changes (with the scraps we have). As it stands I won’t be in attendance as I genuinely can’t be arsed with more of Hartley’s pish …… although come Saturday I will probably change my mind . If I don’t go it’s a 3-0 win to us, if I do it’s a 4-0 defeat.