Broonaldo

I’ve not seen EK this year, so can’t comment on them apart from seeing their reported successful results - are Stranraer fans confident? Can you keep it close after the first game to ensure you have a fighting chance when you take them back to Stair Park?

Teams like EK need to find a niche and this will take years to make it sustainable. It’s definitely not a quick fix solved by promotion to L2 / chucking money at it short term - you need to find a way to get kids to support your team to build that supporter base long term, and you need to do that early ….. we all know once you’ve chosen your team, that’s it you don’t switch. And for the smaller teams that’s difficult because kids will follow the “big” / successful teams (basically the OF) and let’s be honest, most will follow the team their Dad supports (again the big teams). The way to do it is build good kids teams and encourage the kids to support their local team. At Bonnyrigg we have excellent kids coaching for toddlers and all through the age groups. The other thing we’ve encouraged are the “Ultras”, kids aged 8-12 standing behind the goals with their flags, drums, megaphones and songs …. firstly, the wee guys make a great noise which makes a bit of atmosphere and secondly you hope some of these kids will become regular paying fans. Now most of these wee guys will grow up to be Hearts / Hibs paying fans but if you can keep some as Bonnyrigg regulars and others supporting the Rose as their “other” team, then that’s definitely sustainable growth.

Don’t understand why L2 isn’t similar to the other Scottish leagues - what’s wrong with team 42 automatically being relegated and HL/LL winners play off to see who gets their place; the loser of that HL/LL playoff then plays Team 41 (so potentially 2 up 2 down). Alternatively Team 41 and 42 both go down automatically and both HL/LL Champs come up (so definite 2 up 2 down). But member clubs self-interest will never allow that, it’d be like turkeys voting for Christmas!

Wow, quite a performance from the Rose! Pitch was in great condition (let’s ignore the slope!) and we played some great stuff against a decent team. A nothing game for Forfar but still, a great showing from the Rose. If that’s the sort of football Calum wants us to play, then I’m positive for next season …. and what an impact from young Owen Wardell!!

I think you’re right …. to an extent. There’s the core of a decent squad in there - Martin, Peggie, Mailer, Barrett, Gray, Watson, McGale and Jarvis can definitely play at this level and I think McGachie, Currie, Young and Martynuik could have another season in them. But we’re missing star quality in defence, midfield and up front which is hard to attract at a team like Bonnyrigg. Calum has a massive job in the summer, he definitely needs to cut 5 or 6 (as a minimum) and bring in much better quality to replace them ….. that won’t be easy with our budget. Fingers crossed he has someone scouting for some hidden gems.

If you’d read my previous posts, like you said you had, you’ll know I’ve never had a dig at Martynuik as a player (or as a goal scorer), rather at the fact he’s played at CB which isn’t his position and I think he struggles there …. I’m actually taking a dig at the management for asking him to play out of position, which I find bizarre. And the big striker (McGachie) is still the best striker we have. He’s not had the best of seasons (mainly due to injuries) but he’s still a handful for defenders.

So the Rose have stumbled and staggered like a dazed prize fighter away from relegation …. only a bizarre freak collapse next week involving a c12 goal turnaround between the Stranraer and Rose games stops that. But what learnings do we take into next season? I think the biggies are: 1. We need a clear out of players. Robbie was too loyal to some and they’re not good enough at this level (and Martynuik isn’t a CB!!). We need strong, tall, dominant CBs; a creative midfielder; and someone to score goals. For a club with no sugar daddy, this is a big ask with limited funds 2. Something needs to happen about our pitch, it’s a mud bath for 10+ games a season. We seem to get better results away from home and that’s surely due to the pitch!! Some may point to our poor facilities but the priority is the pitch. But again, no sugar daddy so do we have the funds? If we spend on players, we can’t afford the pitch …. catch-22!! What we know is the other clubs WILL invest in better players, so the standard will step up - so we need to improve just to stand still …. otherwise next season will be another squeaky bum relegation dogfight

Where are the moderators?? This is a serious message board - surely we have some standards?? We have someone claiming they have a decent knowledge of the league AND they get one of the best players in the league playing for the wrong team. A ban is maybe a little harsh but I would think a very stern warning is necessary here ……

I agree - this was always a possibility, so clubs can’t complain if it happens. And like you, I can’t see EK losing the HL/LL play off ….

Hopefully Spartans have one eye on the playoffs and have an off day. Going to be a tricky game, last time at NDP Henderson bullied our CBs (mind you, our CBs get bullied a lot), so Calum Elliot needs to have a plan to stop that. And hopefully the pitch isn’t too heavy so that Watson can use that pace of his like he did last week, which was definitely his best performance in a Rose jersey. Lots of “hopefully” comments there, which sums up my views on Rose just now …….

Without doubt my favourite SPFL2 away ground. Amazing drive up the A9, brilliant ground, good social club and amazing fans (as a Bonnyrigg fan I regularly sit in the main stand amongst the Elgin fans with not a jot of bother instead I get good humoured banter). There’s also a fab Turkish restaurant in the town …… what’s not to like!!

We may not be Man City but we’re not an “awful team”. Rose will have one of the lowest wage budgets in the league, we could never afford to get Dick Campbell or afford to sign quality like Easton, Austin or Trouten. We’re battlers but we showed today we can play football, so it’s a pity you stand by the “awful team” comment. As for the #9 (McGachie), he certainly didn’t give a decent CB like Easton a moment’s peace, so he can’t be that bad!

“Awful team” ….. harsh and unfair. Rose played really well, took the goals superbly and pretty much dominated the entire game. We hit the post, missed 3 decent one-on-ones so could have scored more. I’m not sure many teams will dominate East Fife like that, they’re a really good team, especially at Bayview. May have been a bad day at the office for East Fife but disappointing you can’t give credit where credit is due, a poor post.

Better performance from the Rose in awful conditions (well played both teams for battling the elements) but once again we lose a goal to a set piece header (a free header in the box at that), and a silly late goal that was preventable. Peterhead are a decent team, McKee and Ritchie look quality but I thought Currie was the MOTM. Both Rose goals were crackers, which was pleasing. It’s onwards to next week ….

The pitch will be really heavy, we’ll certainly not get the usual tiki-taka football we experience at NDP!! Another massive game for the Rose, hopefully Calum Elliot has had time to install a few new ideas to the players.

If you’re saying the running / management of the LL (and the SPFL) is a joke, then I’d definitely agree with you there. There’s plenty of examples - entry of the B teams parachuting into the LL; Rose being forced to install floodlights with unrealistic deadlines before we got accepted into the LL, the fact there’s a LL / HL playoff to get entry into the SPFL …. I’m sure there’s plenty others that showcase all that’s bad with Scottish football, so if that’s what we’re saying is making it a Mickey Mouse league then I’m in complete agreement.

It being a “Mickey Mouse” league is all relative ….. I’m sure fans in the Scottish Premiership think SPFL2 is a Mickey Mouse league, English fans think our Scottish Premiership is a Mickey Mouse league and so on. I’ve followed the Rose through the leagues and our rise hasn’t been easy and the games were tough, so not Mickey Mouse in my eyes. I didn’t agree with the B teams coming in (and the Rose were one of the few clubs who voted against them) but i wouldn’t disrespect the other teams in the LL by sneering at it. As for the decimated funding for the relegated teams, that’s obvious - as you fall down the leagues the income gets smaller and smaller. The challenge for all SPFL2 teams is to live within their means so that if relegation does come then it can be managed. And your point about EK and Kelty chucking money around to progress, again pretty obvious, but it happens everywhere - what do you think happened with PSG, Man City, RB Leipzig and now Newcastle???? Why would our league be any different …

Not sure I agree - the B teams are always in the top 5 or 6 and Stirling Uni are consistently in the top half too, so I don’t think that means the league is “Mickey Mouse”. The fact that ES, Berwick Rangers, Albion Rovers and Cowdenbeath are all still there shows how tough a league it is to get out of ……

You’re right, Robbie has dabbled (unsuccessfully!!) with loads of forwards over the last 2-3 seasons who’ve all been in the same mould - small and speedy. Anyone who’s been to NDP will know it’s a cow field in the winter months and must be like running in treacle, so speed is pretty much negated. Added to that it can’t be the easiest to pass on the deck in those conditions, so we resort to hoofball. The only 6ft+ forward we signed was Faye and he refused to head the ball!! It must be so demoralising for poor Ross Gray to watch those missles get launched at him from defence. I couldn’t understand why we didn’t sign a clone of McGachie, that target man model works for our style and those conditions. As for Kerr, he’s been missed but (1) he’s not had a great season and (2) he needs support - Martynuik isn’t a CB and Grigor / Mercer are too small. We need a Munro (Forfar), Dolzanski (Elgin), Buchanan (Stennie) or Sonkur (Spartans) to add dominance and cut out those ball’s into our box ….. and add a threat when we have a corner.

That’s been the problem all season (and last season) at NDP - hoofball from defence missing out midfield aiming for McGachie who’s usually outmuscled by 2 defenders who’re of similar size or regularly bigger and stronger. And when he’s not there (he's been injured for large parts of the season), the tactics are still the same ….. but this time the target is Ross Gray, Declan Byrne, Kevin Smith, Liam Buchanan et al who are all tiny compared to the CBs they’re up against. And the number of goals we lose from balls launched into our box and being outmuscled in the challenge is embarrassing. Calum Elliot has a big job next season - we’ve got some decent players (especially Martin, Peggie, Mailer, Barrett, Gray) but regardless of what league we’re in we need a rebuild.

Brilliant appointment, hope he does a great job for you.

We’re in big trouble - I wasn’t at Dumbarton but it sounded like we offered nothing to the game. I’ve been to most games this season and we seem so devoid of confidence, some of the tactics are baffling, the team selection is head scratching and our squad is not good enough ….. therefore questions have to be asked if Robbie Horn’s time is up. We’ve been screaming out for a dominant CB, someone to help Lee Currie in midfield and a strong striker since Big McGachie has been struggling with injury. Instead we buy wee speedy guys who have no chance using that speed on a pitch that is a quagmire. Thing is though, if Robbie goes, who do we get instead - sometimes it is a case of “better the devil you know” …… Big decisions for our Board.

I disagree - the escalation was from Scullion who screamed and seemed to be challenging the Bonnyrigg fans to a fight, he was less than a metre away from them. Why was he doing that? To be clear, no one is supporting the “fan”, no one deserves to be spat at or assaulted in any way …. it’s disgusting behaviour and I’d ban the “fan” from NDP. But the whole sorry situation doesn’t happen if Scullion simply runs to his fans to celebrate instead of taunting the home crowd. Scullion played a big part. Again, I stress, I’m not justifying anyone spitting at anyone else (that’s vile), but you can’t say Scullion’s is totally innocent in escalating things.

You’re right Clyde01, they are ‘basic’ but we’ve only been in the SPFL for 2 seasons. Are our facilities any worse than Cowdenbeath or Albion Rovers who were until recently in the SPFL? Once (if!!) we get a few seasons of SPFL revenues, the Club will invest in the infrastructure and make things better - but the Committee are clear, they’re not going to burden the Club with debt to make unsustainable improvements. What folks need to realise is teams in the LL are getting half your revenues (lower crowds, lower ticket prices, less chance of Cup revenues, less cash from the SFA), is it any wonder our facilities are more ‘basic’? Give us time (or investment!!) and we’ll get there!

Poor post, naive comments. In only our 2nd season in the SPFL, it’ll take time (and a lot of money) to get our infrastructure in place. But we’ve our own ground, we’re not wracking ourselves with massive debt (and no rich sugar daddy here), we’ve a Board with the right intentions, a local community fan base with relatively realistic ambitions and we know if we’re relegated we’ll still be in existence in a few years time. Can you say that about your club? Can many in the lower leagues?