Redcar

Superb signing for us tonight. Michael Travis coming in from Edinburgh on a 2-year deal.

Michael Travis has signed for Berwick tonight. Cracking signing for us.

League season is over, so just a good run in the Scottish Cup to hope for. Oh, hang on......

A performance of breathtaking inadequacy today. Beggars belief how players that we know are talented and get paid decent money for this level, can produce such a display, bereft of technical nous. I was embarrassed to watch this and I paid to get in. Would be nice to know how the Manager explains it away, when he gets paid to pick the team up after last week's shameful defeat at Stoneyburn. Not quite Johnny Harvey level yet, but closing in.....

Depressing read - and not the first such performance this season. Others at the game tell a similar story to this. Feeble, half-hearted individual displays and no spark from the senior players or from the sidelines. We've brought several new players in recently. About time we kicked some of the shirkers out.

Griffin Sabatini has played the last 2 games for Berwick Rangers as a trialist and looked good, but what do you make of him? I think we'd like to sign him.

Good question. Official line is to share the frustration but reflect on a remarkable number of early season injuries, and insist/hope that once a few players are back from the Doctors, things will improve big style. Some fans reflect that, others point at a number of strange management decisions (selections and subs), and some just question the quality of the players. Words such as 'dire' 'garbage' 'pathetic' and 'spineless' have been used, whilst others point out that the league is stronger and we should all remember (quite right, too) that the club was heading for oblivion till the current board took over. There's been dummy spitting (including from me) and patronising superiority in equal measure on the fans page. It is already a bizarre season. A hammering, a fabulous victory over Celtic and a stomach wrenching capitulation on Saturday. Where we go from here? No idea mate, but in my opinion the squad is a lot stronger than last year's.

Martin Rennie has today signed on Loan with Berwick Rangers. Thoughts? On the face of it, looks like a good signing for Lowland League level

2 things I know about football a) f**k all b) f**k all else. Now looking forward to Saturday with knobs on.

Stuart Malcolm described his side's performance as 'atrocious' - losing 6-0 and having your captain sent off, he may have a point. Malcolm tried to address the glaring "soft-as-shite" nature of last year's team by adding experience, but raised various eyebrows when 3 of his signings had a combined age of 112. We Lost to Dunbar and scratched a 1-0 win over Preston Athletic in pre-season, so the Berwick bookies aren't being flooded with bets on the Lowland league championship trophy arriving next Spring. In 40 years of support, I've never been less enthusiastic about my first visit of the season to Shielfield Park. The team needs to urgently grow a pair of collective bollocks. But.... clinging desperately to any crumb I can find, a Berwick fan has said that the last time we lost the 1st game 6-0, we went in to be champions!

Didn't go particularly well.

Hey look, I never mean to come across rude or disrespectful. Genuine apologies if I did. The point is though that it is out there - been stated many times on P&B for instance. Also, the difference between OF colts usual teams and the sides they put out last year when the main squad were off on tour, is much greater than other examples you give. It is totally unacceptable and as stated, the notion of league postponenents - whilst a bit better than last season - is still a disproportionate problem for clubs at this level. #devil #detail

This is the bit that can most be filed under 'absolute bollocks'. Last season, the OF Colts mostly fielded strong teams and usually won. But, just occasionally, they were involved in some tournament or other in Europe, so fielded really weak teams in the Lowland League, allowing an easy win for the opposition. So if you were lucky you could get 3 points when you would otherwise have had no chance. That 1 fact alone, makes their inclusion a) an unacceptable farce, and b) the very opposite of sporting integrity. The debate keeps being added to by people who take no account of what actually happened in the first season of this piss poor experiment

I hate this league. Embarrassing to be a part of a setup run by sycophants and brown nosing clowns, forever slurping at the chocolate starfish of any besuited conman who can offer the occasional prawn sandwich in exchange for total subservience. Many in here claim that the league and its member chairmen have no respect for the fans. Well, that's because many of the club's have hardly any fans, so the few diehards can just go bollocks. They don't matter. Club loyalty will mean I will still go to matches whatever happens in this nightmare League, but I'd rather visit Eastern Ukraine than go to a Colts match at whatever characterless shithole they decide to play in. If World football needed an enema, FIFA would take the tube on an express visit to Lowland League HQ.

Don't know. Balatoni tweeted that he was excited to sign for Berwick, but after talking with the Manager (Stu Malcolm) it was decided "not to take this option forward". Sounds like Malcolm wasn't over impressed with him during the loan spell, or that he got a chance to sign Anderson and thought he was a better option. Can't be sure though - perhaps there is another reason. I wasn't impressed in the few matches he played. He was OK, but didn't show anything particularly promising. Certainly no better than what we already had.

That pre-contract has been torn up. Not signing for Berwick now.

Balatoni's signing has been cancelled.

Calum Antell has signed as Berwick's first choice keeper and Jamie Stevenson has signed on from East Kilbride.

161 pages in this thread, and whilst there are lots of good strong opinions it's really just a sideshow, a diversion from the gruesome reality of playing in this crappy league. Every club in this league should be shaking the tree to demand a better chance of a glimmer of hope of going up - top 4 finish should get some sort of play off place - and that can only happen if every club embraces increased movement at the bottom too. With Bonnyrigg opening a big gap at the top and VoL getting pumped every week at the bottom, the season was all over for most clubs before the end of September. What a sad and pathetic state of affairs - reduced to pretending that finishing in the top 6 was important in order to qualify for another feeble cup competition! Jeez.

"The club can confirm that the following players will depart Berwick Rangers following the expiry of their contracts. Andy McNeil, Ben Swinton, Ali Adams, John Ward, and Calum Smith all leave Shielfield Park. We are promised 2 signings in the next few days.

I actually make that 16 players already signed for next season. Nelson, Anderson, Scobbie, Pyper, Cook, Balatoni, Ferguson. Barr, Sinclair, Wright Allan, Taylor, Harris, Stewart, Heeps, Baker And none of them are keepers. Maybe Jack Cook may be encouraged to move on (he got very little game time towards the end of the season) and unless Jack Wright makes a miraculous recovery he will go too. There must also be doubts about Sinclair's fitness. So a little bit of scope to sign those important midfielders, a striker and a defender that hasn't yet got his bus pass. The problem area with the team has been in midfield. Without Taylor-Mackenzie and Sinclair it was incredibly lightweight.

The Loons lost their play off semi final. There may be a few more of their players getting a call from their old gaffer this weekend!

Steven Anderson has signed for Berwick. 36 years old, but do you think he is still good enough for the Lowland League?