Sons' sorrow

[Jan Vojáček]

I'm sorry to see Martin McNiff go. He was probably a bit underrated and underappreciated this season. Faz described him as 'the perfect teammate' and I thought that was a good way of putting it. You probably don't realise how good a player he is unless you're playing alongside him.

Aye he couldn't move very quickly. And aye his distribution wasn't great. But he was a really steady, solid 7/10 most weeks. He knew his limitations and was smart enough to play around them most weeks.

I know Drumchapel United fancied him last summer, so maybe he'll end up there. Or at Johnstone Burgh seen as they are flinging around the dough.

Wherever he goes though I'm sure he'll be a good addition and I hope he does well.

Can we find an upgrade? I shouldn't be impossible. But I would've been more than happy to see him stay.

[Jan Vojáček]

3 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

Where has this McNiff news come from? Can’t seem to see it anywhere.

It's up on his personal Facebook

[TullyBascombe]

Sorry to see McNiff go. What he lacked in pace he made up with nous, nowhere better than in the cup game at Killie against Danny Armstrong. 

[Silverton End]

I liked McNiff, no nonsense, simple basic defending, what you need at this level, he had a good season overall.

So long big McNiff-icent 

[THE CHOSEN SON]

1 hour ago, Jan Vojáček said:

Can we find an upgrade? I shouldn't be impossible. But I would've been more than happy to see him stay.

We might not necessarily find someone who is a massive upgrade but it shouldn’t be too difficult to find someone a bit more mobile than McNiff, he was solid and reliable and I enjoyed watching him defend, however I did feel he hindered us in attack slightly. 

I’ve always liked Blair Malcolm at Albion Rovers, who’s is a handy left back / midfielder.

I wish McNiff well though and if he is indeed dropping down a level or two, I hope he’s getting a decent chunk of money for it.

 

[JustOneCornetto]

You guys might be interested to know that Carlo Pignatiello has left Morton even though he had another year on his contract. Seems he has found himself a good job so if he still wants to play he'll be looking for a part time team. 

[Sons fan 1872]

James Hilton has left Stranraer too can be a handy player who I wouldn’t mind signing. 

[George Parr]

Oh well, we wish Martin all the best, although post 6-0 Annan, I can’t say I’d be terribly fussed about any of the playing staff leaving the club

[Frank Quitely]

21 minutes ago, JustOneCornetto said:

You guys might be interested to know that Carlo Pignatiello has left Morton even though he had another year on his contract. Seems he has found himself a good job so if he still wants to play he'll be looking for a part time team. 

Yes, the word was that he was interested in coming here but it was conditional on us being promoted.  Now, remind me, how did that work out ?

[C'mon_the_Sons]

2 hours ago, Thommo90 said:

McNiff away

Possibly baby McNiff due in Sept may have had a bearing on this decision. 

Edited May 16, 2023 by C'mon_the_Sons

[DFCTTFM]

Its strange to me that Farrell has been banging on about the defence all season, yet has only retained one member of said defence.... may just be down to the players decision to leave but I still do find it odd

[the snudge]

Pignatello back would be great. I thought he was our best player when he was here. 

[BallochSonsFan]

Buchanan is 33. I can see the attraction for a 33 year old in a move to a team at a higher level. Or one offering a decent wage increase. But is that likely to be the case? I suppose we'll find out eventually, but having to recruit 3/4 of a new defence isnt ideal.

Good job we've just appointed a chief scout to identify talent.

In reality its an appointment I'm concerned about. Morrison isnt doing the job for free. Club finances aren't in great shape and I suspect that season ticket renewals have been exceptionally poor. That extended deadline for the early price may well be extended further and the early price may become simply the price. Do we need a chief scout and talent identifier? I doubt that this is an initiative that the club has come up with. This is highly unlikely to be a decision driven by the board. So who within the club has been pushing to bring in a chief scout and talent spotter?

Clearly it's Farrell.

At some point somebody needs to give the club a reality check. From absolutely baffling, and undoubtedly inflammatory, statements to needless staff appointments, I'm genuinely worried about the decisions being made right now. I genuinely think that the board are absolving themselves of any kind of leadership and decision making and are basically accepting every single whim that Farrell asks them to. 

A chief scout is not the priority when the club is in such a shambles of a state from top to bottom.

[FifeSons]

Maybe I’m knit-picking, but I think Carsy deserved more of a mention in that post, after the years of service he’s given us.

[THE CHOSEN SON]

McKee, Carswell and McNiff (and possibly Buchanan and Orsi) is a fairly big chunk of the core of the team that done so well for us at the start of the season - an interesting decision to part ways with them, I’d be pretty disappointed if any of three have been let go.

Not fussed about the rest of them.

[Guest]

So I took some time away from posting on here deciding to let the season run it’s course. It couldn’t have ended any worse. 
 

I feel for all the fans cause it should have been one to remember instead we are spending another pre season dreading going back to the rock whilst a civil war with our own management team and board breaks out. 
 

As for the contract renewals. Some are highly questionable. Wylde being the main one. He’s a passenger. His performance is often shocking. His worst being the home game against Albion Rovers. He should never wear a sons shirt again. Yet with potentially buchy for the exit door we face the prospect of him wearing a Captains armband. God help us. 
 

I’m sorry to lose Mcniff. As has been mentioned he was ever reliable to deliver the bare minimum required and when some of our squad can’t deliver that then I feel we’re losing one of our better squad members here. 

Letting Joe McKee go is another shocker. Play him week in week out. In a style of play that suits a team willing to go forward and he would be one of the best midfielders in the league. We will regret letting him leave. 
 

lastly upfront, I seen someone mention the difference between us losing the league was Dale Carrick. Nonsense. We could have had Dale Carrick and Charlie Reilly and we still wouldn’t have had an attacking bone in our body due to how we were set up and attempted to shitfest games of football. 
 

I’ve renewed my season ticket purely because I want to support our football club but I won’t at any point be paying more over and above that into the pockets of our club to continue to supply Farrell money for what piss is being served up 
 

 

 

[Jan Vojáček]

Not really any surprises there. I'm disappointed at how Joe McKee's return worked out; illness, injury, our pitch and our style of play meant he never really got going at all in his second spell. Which is a shame. When he was on song he was superb (see the 4-0 v Annan back in August).

It would be good to see all four offered deals signing up, but Bucky has to be the priority there imo. Orsi is good to watch and I'd be very pleased to keep him, but he's more easily replaceable than Gregor Buchanan is. Not only defensively, but also as a centre-half who is a big goal threat.

[George Parr]

Orsi was the drizzling shits for the majority of his time with us, save the second half of this season. As long as he’s not targeting a move to another League 2 side (and able to come back and bite us) then there’s no tears being shed here over his impending departure. 

[C'mon_the_Sons]

Failing to even mention McGeever is a bit shite!

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

I can’t be the only one that isn’t particularly arsed about Joe McKee’s departure, am I? A good player on his day but I don’t think his 2nd spell with us has been great and I’m fairly certain he’ll be on a good wage. 

As for the Carlo rumours, as good a player as he was for us, where does he fit in? I always thought he was a far superior right back to centre mid where we have Aaron Lynas on a 2 year deal. We also have Ryan Blair in centre mid to play the type of role Pignatiello would be in there for. FWIW I think he’s far better right back than Lynas but it would be daft to sign him after offering Lynas a 2 year deal. I’d also rather not play with two defensive minded midfielders. This team desperately needs creativity.