Sons' sorrow

[Boghead ranter]

9 hours ago, North Terrace Gazza said:

 

Dumbarton will finish in the bottom two probably tenth. They may well win a play off but I would very much doubt it. Ayr will also struggle and most likely will finish in the bottom two probably 9th and probably lose the play off. Despite this both Aitken and McCall are good managers and are only constrained by their respective budgets.

 

I can confidently predict that we won't win the playoff if we finish tenth.

[Jan Vojáček]

9 hours ago, squeezeboxson said:

Why will Dumbarton probably finish 10th and not Ayr?

The only thing that's worrying me about Ayr is Craig Moore - if they can keep him fit he'll bag at least 15 goals, and I don't think we have anyone (yet) who can do that.

[George Parr]

Still nearly two full weeks to the big kickoff. Much could change for both teams in that time...

[DumbartonTheSons]

I think it's fair to say that most people expect us and Ayr to be in the bottom two or three come the end of the season.

I can't say I know much of Ayr's squad for this season, but I reckon our fate could well be dictated by how big an impact our remaining signings, presumably the loans discussed, have this season.

[The Moonster]

 

46 minutes ago, Consolidate said:

Still nearly two full weeks to the big kickoff. Much could change for both teams in that time...

Indeed. We're looking at 3 loans, when you consider that 3 players could be the spine of a team then everything can change even with just a few additions.

On the loans, I'm not sure we need another striker. Stevenson looks his best playing further up the park and basically takes up the second striker role and we currently have nobody available to play defensive midfield at the moment (although Darren Barr does seem to be nearing fitness). We also have Todd, Fleming, Thomson and McCallum to play up top should Stevo not be available. I'd be inclined to get two more midfielders (one central, one wide) in along with a defender.

[DumbartonTheSons]

 
On the loans, I'm not sure we need another striker. Stevenson looks his best playing further up the park and basically takes up the second striker role and we currently have nobody available to play defensive midfield at the moment (although Darren Barr does seem to be nearing fitness). We also have Todd, Fleming, Thomson and McCallum to play up top should Stevo not be available. I'd be inclined to get two more midfielders (one central, one wide) in along with a defender.

I agree that we do have a number of options upfront as you've listed, but I still think one of our loans should be a striker.

We have options up there, but are any of them likely to get 15+ goals this season?

Fleming maybe, but it looks like he's not going to be played upfront.

Thomson perhaps, but he's totally unproven at this level.

I think we need an out-and-out striker, someone who's a goalscorer (I know we're not going to get a proven one at this level, but a Chris Kane type from an SPL side).

We've been leaking goals all over the place so far, and while I'm not all that concerned because I don't place any importance on the cup, and I hope we tighten that up as the season gets going, if we don't score goals we won't win many games.

We saw how important Nade's involvement was when he came in, so to give us the best chance of being competitive, we need another striker as far as I'm concerned.

I'd like us to bring in a wide midfielder and a defender as you say, but I'd like the third to be a forward.

[optimistic]

A striker definitely has to be one of them, but I would like to give mccallum and Thomson a run together, definitely a defensive midfielder, we can't afford to gamble on Darren barr being ready, and I'd be inclined to bring a left back in, no one can doubt Docherty's desire and commitment, but I still think we leak goals down that side, but He can cross beautifully, and I think he'd be better left mid.

[The Moonster]

6 minutes ago, DumbartonTheSons said:

 

I agree that we do have a number of options upfront as you've listed, but I still think one of our loans should be a striker.

We have options up there, but are any of them likely to get 15+ goals this season?

Fleming maybe, but it looks like he's not going to be played upfront.

Thomson perhaps, but he's totally unproven at this level.

I think we need an out-and-out striker, someone who's a goalscorer (I know we're not going to get a proven one at this level, but a Chris Kane type from an SPL side).

We've been leaking goals all over the place so far, and while I'm not all that concerned because I don't place any importance on the cup, and I hope we tighten that up as the season gets going, if we don't score goals we won't win many games.

We saw how important Nade's involvement was when he came in, so to give us the best chance of being competitive, we need another striker as far as I'm concerned.

I'd like us to bring in a wide midfielder and a defender as you say, but I'd like the third to be a forward.

 

Difficult for us to sign that type of player. I'd suggest that we'll again be looking for everyone to chip in with the goals rather than relying on one striker to do it for us. I just worry that we're too thin in central midfield.  Todd or Fleming aren't central midfielders and are not disciplined (positionally) enough to do the job we need in there.  When Barr and Gallagher are back it looks a bit better in there but knowing how injury prone Barr is and how inconsistent Gallagher is, I think we need an option or two in there.

I reckon Thommo will get us a good amount of goals, he does need to learn that he can't come deep for the ball all the time though. On Saturday he linked up well with Stevo but he needs to make sure he's the one in the box when we inevitably play it wide to Smith or Stirling to cross. we really do have excellent crossers of the ball this year, Stirling, Stevo, Pettigrew, Docherty and although we've been informed otherwise, Smith seems to have a decent cross in him. That's where we need to be strong to get goals this year. I'd really like to see Todd given a run up there too, he looks really good on the ball but we've not seen him get a chance in front of goal yet.

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

I know a guy who would be perfect for that midfield role. He's pretty much exactly what we need - bags of energy, ball winner, tidy passer

Some c**t fire up the Jamie Lindsay signal.

[revendarkness]

BBPF I can't agree more we need to sign Lindsay what about Scott brown as well he done a half decent job for us ?

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

BBPF I can't agree more we need to sign Lindsay what about Scott brown as well he done a half decent job for us ?

Did Brown not sign for Queens?

I was never a fan of him personally.

[Jan Vojáček]

6 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

 

Did Brown not sign for Queens?

I was never a fan of him personally.

 

Nope, don't think they signed him. He was the most meh player in history, fine at everything with no standout attributes. It won't be him anyway as he's a free agent, and it's loan players we're after.

Speaking of Jamie Lindsay, I was stalking his Twitter yesterday evening and saw this. If he could add goalz to his game then he would be the complete midfielder

 

[DumbartonTheSons]

Jamie Lindsay is in a totally different ball park from Scott Brown IMO.

As BBPF suggests, Lindsay is a cracking midfielder who would undoubtedly improve our team.

Brown while certainly not poor, was pretty 'meh' during his time with us and isn't what we need just now I wouldn't say.

[squeezeboxson]

1 hour ago, revendarkness said:

BBPF I can't agree more we need to sign Lindsay what about Scott brown as well he done a half decent job for us ?

Meh

[bigmacDFC]

I really don't think we're looking to bring in a first choice '15 goal' striker - I'm pretty sure Thomo will be our main striker for the season, with Stevenson, Todd and Gaz supporting at times - the wingers will also be expected to chip in with goals. Also think Buchanan will score a good amount due to Stevo's outstanding deliveries.

I'd like to see us bring in a centre half; Wright really doesn't look up to playing 90 minutes, especially not regularly.

We clearly need a defensive mid - however, you've then got the problem of one of Stevo, Gaz and Todd dropping out or replacing a winger.

We have plenty of options in behind the striker this season, in complete contrast to last. So if we were to sign another striker, it would have to be an out-and-out number 9.

[son of a bankie]

I am starting to get hacked off with Chris Kane. We got lucky and good luck to him but he is gone. Nade kept us in the league last season and accordingly we are pay for that now.
We have had a bucket load of pish strikers in my five years watching exclude Jim Lister, Bryan Prunty and Garry Fleming who will run his heart out anywhere he plays.
We have tried to replace Mark Gilhaney unsuccessfully.
My thoughts are move Marc Doherty to left midfield and play a left back behind him. He is a leader and not frightened to give out abuse on the park. The other night I was waiting on him hooking Andy Stirling. We need strong players and supporters this season.

[The Moonster]

15 minutes ago, son of a bankie said:

I am starting to get hacked off with Chris Kane. We got lucky and good luck to him but he is gone. Nade kept us in the league last season and accordingly we are pay for that now.
We have had a bucket load of pish strikers in my five years watching exclude Jim Lister, Bryan Prunty and Garry Fleming who will run his heart out anywhere he plays.
We have tried to replace Mark Gilhaney unsuccessfully.
My thoughts are move Marc Doherty to left midfield and play a left back behind him. He is a leader and not frightened to give out abuse on the park. The other night I was waiting on him hooking Andy Stirling. We need strong players and supporters this season.

That would mean dropping Andy Stirling or moving him to the right and dropping Smith.  I imagine if Stirling was on the right he'd be inclined to cut in rather than going down the line and getting balls into the box for Thommo. It's possible, but may upset the balance of the team.

I do think it shows we have a versatile bunch this year, I just worry that we have a lot of players who are decent in every position but masters of none, but we'll see. I'm also worried about David Smith's defensive brain, Pettigrew was all sorts of exposed on Saturday with Smith wandering around in front of him wondering which Dundee player to pick up.  Early, early days yet though.

[Sweet Pete]

27 minutes ago, son of a bankie said:

I am starting to get hacked off with Chris Kane. We got lucky and good luck to him but he is gone. Nade kept us in the league last season and accordingly we are pay for that now.
We have had a bucket load of pish strikers in my five years watching exclude Jim Lister, Bryan Prunty and Garry Fleming who will run his heart out anywhere he plays.
We have tried to replace Mark Gilhaney unsuccessfully.
My thoughts are move Marc Doherty to left midfield and play a left back behind him. He is a leader and not frightened to give out abuse on the park. The other night I was waiting on him hooking Andy Stirling. We need strong players and supporters this season.

Supporters with increased strength will definitely result in Dumbarton FC winning more football matches in my opinion.

[optimistic]

How many supporters did st mirren/ dunfermline need for their takeover?

What ideas do we have to bring fans in, to increase our gate?

[albundy]

53 minutes ago, bigmacDFC said:

I really don't think we're looking to bring in a first choice '15 goal' striker - I'm pretty sure Thomo will be our main striker for the season, with Stevenson, Todd and Gaz supporting at times - the wingers will also be expected to chip in with goals. Also think Buchanan will score a good amount due to Stevo's outstanding deliveries.

I'd like to see us bring in a centre half; Wright really doesn't look up to playing 90 minutes, especially not regularly.

We clearly need a defensive mid - however, you've then got the problem of one of Stevo, Gaz and Todd dropping out or replacing a winger.

We have plenty of options in behind the striker this season, in complete contrast to last. So if we were to sign another striker, it would have to be an out-and-out number 9.

We have another good option at centre back in Darren Barr. I wouldn' be against bringing in a decent LB and see how Docherty plays at defensive mid either (did alloa fans not say that was his best position).