Sons' sorrow

[lorenzo71]

4 hours ago, Boghead ranter said:

Aye, losing the receptionist to another job is a sure sign that things are going down the pan.  Right you are. 

 

4 hours ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

 

Can you provide some cold hard facts around what the players are being paid?

I know one of them personally and he is on an increased wage compared to last season.q

 

Just to respond briefly.....i dont have hard facts about wages or offers from other clubsat all, its just what i was told by 2 people connected directly with the club.If they were either exaggerating or not being accurate then fair enough, i was merely passing on what i had been told.

 

Boghead ranter.........you must admit the current situation re the club does not look good, im also referring to the Herald piece about Brabco and Dumbarton fc being in a very unclear position.I dont think anyone can be sure of what will happen next good or otherwise, but i do get the feeling that Gilbert was a main player at the club and his loss may have a greater impact than many of us can imagine.I really do hope this is all a storm in a teacup and things will turn around.But the uncertainty is worrying.

[Jan Vojáček]

4 minutes ago, lorenzo71 said:

 

Just to respond briefly.....i dont have hard facts about wages or offers from other clubsat all, its just what i was told by 2 people connected directly with the club.If they were either exaggerating or not being accurate then fair enough, i was merely passing on what i had been told.

 

Boghead ranter.........you must admit the current situation re the club does not look good, im also referring to the Herald piece about Brabco and Dumbarton fc being in a very unclear position.I dont think anyone can be sure of what will happen next good or otherwise, but i do get the feeling that Gilbert was a main player at the club and his loss may have a greater impact than many of us can imagine.I really do hope this is all a storm in a teacup and things will turn around.But the uncertainty is worrying.

Let's be careful we don't get hysterical here.

We're fine. Financially last season was a bit sare in that the budget was overspent, this year it's down (I've nae idea by how much. I don't even roughly know what a budget for a club like us is! The fact that we've not lost that many players would suggest it's been slashed), the players are on roughly similar cash to what they were on last year (a few are slightly down, but we're not talking large amount a week here whilst some will be on more) and as much as Gilbert was a massive loss I don't think that's the reason behind us having a smaller playing budget.

Let's also bear in mind that we have a manager who does (whether it's deliberate or not) like to get his excuses in to protect his players from stick. Last season the part-time card was played after every defeat, this year it'll be the budget. It's just the way he is.

We've not signed a bunch of Sunday League jobbers, we've not lost all our players to divisional rivals, we've got the basis of a very good (if thin) squad. FWIW it's almost a year to the day since we played Hearts with this squad: Brown; Taggart (Mark Thomson - trialist 60), Docherty (Waters 60), Barr, Buchanan, Routledge, Cawley, Gallagher (Miller 60), Fleming (Smith 46), Kirkpatrick (Pedro Moutinho – trialist 60), Gibson (McCallum 74). Sub Not Used: Ewings.

I'd rather be in the position we are - with the squad we have - than be in the position we were when Stevie did have a budget and signed guys like Miller, Gordon Smith and Paul Heffernan!

[Boghead ranter]

22 minutes ago, lorenzo71 said:

 

Just to respond briefly.....i dont have hard facts about wages or offers from other clubsat all, its just what i was told by 2 people connected directly with the club.If they were either exaggerating or not being accurate then fair enough, i was merely passing on what i had been told.

 

Boghead ranter.........you must admit the current situation re the club does not look good, im also referring to the Herald piece about Brabco and Dumbarton fc being in a very unclear position.I dont think anyone can be sure of what will happen next good or otherwise, but i do get the feeling that Gilbert was a main player at the club and his loss may have a greater impact than many of us can imagine.I really do hope this is all a storm in a teacup and things will turn around.But the uncertainty is worrying.

I admit f**k all, thanks very much.

 

The situation between Brabco and DFC has been unclear since the day they took over, so there's no more likelihood of admin this year than there has been any year. 

Away and unbunch your frillies and stop scaremongering.

Edited July 13, 2016 by Boghead ranter

[pleslie99]

Anyway......when I win the euro millions this week I will just buy the club, bring in messi and akinfenwa as a strike force and all will be solved............

[Sons FC]

1 hour ago, lorenzo71 said:

 

Just to respond briefly.....i dont have hard facts about wages or offers from other clubsat all, its just what i was told by 2 people connected directly with the club.If they were either exaggerating or not being accurate then fair enough, i was merely passing on what i had been told.

 

Boghead ranter.........you must admit the current situation re the club does not look good, im also referring to the Herald piece about Brabco and Dumbarton fc being in a very unclear position.I dont think anyone can be sure of what will happen next good or otherwise, but i do get the feeling that Gilbert was a main player at the club and his loss may have a greater impact than many of us can imagine.I really do hope this is all a storm in a teacup and things will turn around.But the uncertainty is worrying.

Away and stop scaring the weans.The only thing that is worrying is what rubbish you will come up with next.

[DumbartonTheSons]

All of last seasons squad are playing for less money than last year ...none of them were offered deals elsewhere.Add to that the scrapping of the DS plus 4 players at least less than last season,we are being outbid by L1 sides for players all in all  i call that a vast reduction.Not sure about Antonia leaving if that has anything to do with the status quo, anymore than GL's passiing.Just speculation on my part.

Yeah, that's pretty much where I and some others have drawn the conclusion that we are on a 'vastly reduced' budget.

It may be complete nonsense, but if you evaluate it, it makes sense that we are on a fair bit of a lower budget than last year.

Ok, if Stranraer have a benefactor, then they'll be getting good investment and we can't compete with that sort of input, but Alloa have signed a good few players who I, and maybe I'm alone in this, wouldn't have minded seeing pitch up at The Rock. Whether that is to do with budget, I don't know for sure, but some have suggested that we aren't paying as much as Alloa and maybe some other League One clubs. And that's concerning.

If we need to cut our cloth, fine, but our budgets do seem to be on the thin side and it does beg the question about money management and can't help but lead to scepticism and reservations about our expectations and aim for this season.

[thomas 62]

I can assure you Stranraer don't have a benefactor. We are a member owned club, with no shares ,who elect a management committee to run the club, we now only spend what our budget allows, had quite a few televised games in the last few seasons which helped, with good management from our committee we now are stable.

Edited July 13, 2016 by thomas 62

[sonsanorak]

Expectations and aims?

I expect the bottom three and we aim for 8th.

or when you say "our expectations and aims" do you mean the club management and board?

[Jan Vojáček]

5 minutes ago, thomas 62 said:

I can ensure you Stranraer don't have a benefactor. We are a member owned club, with no shares ,who elect a management committee to run the club, we now only spend what our budget allows, had quite a few televised games in the last few seasons which helped, with good management from our committee we now are stable.

How much is TV money by the way? With the wages I know you're paying a few players it's a darned shame we didn't get on Sky.

[thomas 62]

Sky made the difference, also a few games on Alba don't pay as much but handy, Celtic cup tie also.

[Jan Vojáček]

Just now, thomas 62 said:

Sky made the difference, also a few games on Alba don't pay as much but handy, Celtic cup tie also.

As far as I'm aware you don't get any extra cash from Alba. It's included in the TV money every club receives at the start of the year

Skyline Drifter will know, but I'm pretty sure it's the case.

[the snudge]

@Skyline Drifter

[the snudge]

It's okay lads I've swnt out the @Skyline Drifter distress call. 

[thomas 62]

Could be right, but it's takes a lot of hard work to keep a club stable in the present climate. Over last 20 years our gates have dropped by 60%.

[O'Kelly Isley III]

8 minutes ago, thomas 62 said:

Could be right, but it's takes a lot of hard work to keep a club stable in the present climate. Over last 20 years our gates have dropped by 60%.

Have you tried re-setting them in Postcrete ?

[lorenzo71]

2 hours ago, Sons FC said:

Away and stop scaring the weans.The only thing that is worrying is what rubbish you will come up with next.

Theres no need for the harsh language....my intention is not to scaremonger but to analyse the current situation based on what ive heard(which may turn out to be rubbish re the wages) and to be genuinely realistic about the delicate state of affairs.I dont see it as scaremongering.Not my intention.

[Silverton End]

6 minutes ago, thomas 62 said:

Could be right, but it's takes a lot of hard work to keep a club stable in the present climate. Over last 20 years our gates have dropped by 60%.

Good posts from you, thomas 62, our home support also appear to be dwindling, it's been like a morgue at home games, especially the past 2 years, we've sold 400 season tickets for this upcoming season, a couple of years ago we sold roughly 660 season books. We took nearly 700 fans to Pittodrie for a Scottish Cup 1/4 final 2 or 3 years back. We have consolidated in the 2nd tier of Scottish football for 5 seasons now & yet enthusiasm is on the wane from locals, many couldn't care less about DFC. In the mid year-2000's (in the lower Leagues) we averaged around 1,000 home support. 

[lorenzo71]

1 minute ago, Silverton End said:

Good posts from you, thomas 62, our home support also appear to be dwindling, it's been like a morgue at home games, especially the past 2 years, we've sold 400 season tickets for this upcoming season, a couple of years ago we sold roughly 660 season books. We took nearly 700 fans to Pittodrie for a Scottish Cup 1/4 final 2 or 3 years back. We have consolidated in the 2nd tier of Scottish football for 5 seasons now & yet enthusiasm is on the wane from locals, many couldn't care less about DFC. In the mid year-2000's (in the lower Leagues) we averaged around 1,000 home support. 

Yep the club got a boost from the new stadium in terms of income streams and crowds were averaging as you say about 1000, in the second division.Last season we managed the same but needed big away gates from Rangers and Hibs in order to do so.However its not just us as Morton have suffered a similar decline in the last 10years or so.Any ton fans with stats.

[O'Kelly Isley III]

There's a host of reasons for attendances dropping, and not just at Dumbarton or Stranraer.  Television indulges the couch potato regally, and it has also royally f***** the Scottish game with the game here having regressed badly over the last 20 years - witness the results of Scotland's top three clubs in Europe in the last week.

So, fewer people can nowadays be arsed turning up to see what has become a very overpriced afternoon/day out, leaving us afficionados as an ever-shrinking group.  Where Sons are concerned there are local factors; people generally show up to watch their team play open, attacking football and we can't expect that in The Championship; the club's PR remains very poor (am I the only person to hope that the new receptionist is a bit more pleasant, never mind certain Directors.... ?); this is an area of economic hardship, with Sons' games  too dear for many; as our fans drop or die off they are simply not being replaced.  And of course the Old Firm factor, always with us.

But fundamentally, it's the economics, and not aided by the mediocrity of the Scottish game's ruling bodies.

[Howlin' Wilf]

50 minutes ago, thomas 62 said:

Could be right, but it's takes a lot of hard work to keep a club stable in the present climate. Over last 20 years our gates have dropped by 60%.

Crowds weren't great last season but in the last days at Boghead we were down to around 3-400 for most games.