Sons' sorrow

[The Moonster]

4 minutes ago, Sweet Pete said:

Two can play at exaggeration. You say there's no engagement with fans anymore. I've done a lot of work for the club and seen the effort that a handful of people put in to keeping the lights on each day. And the club routinely contact fans with new products, schemes, ideas etc. The club is completely approachable. I, too, feel pissed off by the property speculators and ghosts at ownership/shareholder/boardroom level, but that doesn't mean that every time someone gets a burnt pie it's a symptom of the club being rotten to the core. I challenge you to wander down to the Rock and offer to clean seats, mop changing rooms, paint walls, empty bins etc. you'll find friendly people who are delighted to have someone pitch in and help them with the almost herculean task of running the place. Try and remember that Hosie/Henning/Alan Martin/Whoever are not DFC. They're just suited wankers, they're not the club. Pick the right target.

Fan engagement isn't "buy this thing we're selling". Nor is it waiting for fans to offer services free of charge. It's certainly not "pay £120 or I'm afraid you'll have to drink somewhere else". MacKay is willfully ignorant of the wankers in suits, Colin Hosie seems content to go along with that and it's unforgivable for me. I'm sure our office staff and those who volunteer are doing their best but it's not them I'm aiming criticism at, it's those who make the decisions and right now that's MacKay and Hosie. 

[BallochSonsFan]

I'm not particularly happy with arrangements for the Rangers cup game. I'll say right from the off that I'm not going. I'll use the money that I'll save on the Rangers game for some German football the following Saturday. That doesnt mean that there's not a few things to be concerned about. Ticket pricing seems fine for this round and against this opponent. It's the other things I'm not happy with. £120+ vat for hospitality. Thats a lot of money to be charging. If folk are willing to pay it then who am I to stop them, but at £120+ vat it has to be better than our usual offering. If it isnt then it has the potential to do reputational damage to the club. If fans feel that it's overpriced then there will be complaints and demands for refunds. For any local businesses who may want to attend then a poor experience potentially discourages future hospitality or even sponsorship income. £120+ vat per person? It has to be good because if it isnt then we're going to have a lot of unhappy people. Likewise the parking. £10? Thats a fair amount to add on to the usual cost. We've got a decent number of older fans. We've got a fair number of disabled fans. Have we made any provision for our fans with mobility issues who'll be driving, or be driven, to the game? Tripling the usual cost seems excessive to me. Up it to a fiver? Fine. Offer a number of accessible parking spaces for those who need them? Should be a priority. A tenner just seems steep. Then there's accommodating hospitality in the community suite, so home fans can't use the bar before or after the game. The bowling club will be rubbing their hands at the extra income. Personally I don;t really like the idea of Sons fans being treated like second class fans in our own ground.

 

I can understand the club wanting to maximise income from this game. We certainly need the money and this is probably the worst draw we could have had at this round - we don't get a share of Ibrox gate money and are therefore left trying to make the most of the opportunity that this presents. I just hope that in doing so then we don't end up doing ourselves some reputational damage or treat our own fans poorly.

 

On the wider issue of how the club is run? We could be talking about that from now until kick off and the same folk would either be ultra positive, pessimistic or even out and out cynical. Thats the nature of being part of the Dumbarton support right now. As for fan engagement? We know that the chairman isnt fond of the idea of open forums,  but there certainly has been engagement between the club board and supporters trust. It's a 2-way street and if fans want to see better engagement from the club board then that has to involve some input from the support. How many people put themselves forward as the potential trust rep on the club board earlier this year? Engagement can't just be fans expecting Neil Mackay to give a state of the union address and answer every single question that the supporters aren't actually asking of the club. If fans wan't proper engagement then fans need to be willing to engage.

Edited December 22, 2023 by BallochSonsFan

[Jan Vojáček]

Just on the disabled fans comment. Blue badge parking holders always get to park for free. Or at least they did when my Papa was able to come to games prior to Covid. Given we have a disability access officer I don't think that'll have changed either.

AFAIK you can also drop off for free. Again it's a few years since it was something I did, but it certainly was the case pre-pandemic.

[BallochSonsFan]

Just now, Jan Vojáček said:

Just on the disabled fans comment. Blue badge parking holders always get to park for free. Or at least they did when my Papa was able to come to games prior to Covid. Given we have a disability access officer I don't think that'll have changed either.

AFAIK you can also drop off for free. Again it's a few years since it was something I did, but it certainly was the case pre-pandemic.

Which is something that I'd hope to see continue for the Rangers cup game and something I'd hope the club would have in place when fans were buying tickets.

[Jan Vojáček]

1 minute ago, BallochSonsFan said:

Which is something that I'd hope to see continue for the Rangers cup game and something I'd hope the club would have in place when fans were buying tickets.

It was certainly the case when we shared a league with Rangers. So I can't see it being any different here. It might also be something the club is obliged to do. I'm not sure what the rules are about charging for blue badge parking, but doing away games in the Championship with my Papa I don't think we were ever charged.

[rockson]

21 hours ago, Sweet Pete said:

We could win every game 4 nil and there'd still be folk whining.

"It should have been six."

[Grumpysonoftherock]

Dumbarton 19s player Jacob Shields called up to the Scottish Schools team. 

 

[The Moonster]

1 hour ago, BallochSonsFan said:

We know that the chairman isnt fond of the idea of open forums,  but there certainly has been engagement between the club board and supporters trust. 

How much of this engagement does your regular fan, or even Trust member, hear about? Virtually none.

I also disagree with the criticism of no one stepping up to be a board member. It's a huge undertaking for anyone and given any fan is likely going to be banging their head against the wall in respect of club ownership issues (which is the biggest issue for a fan rep) then it's understandable you don't have any takers. The club is so unattractive that even a fan won't step forward, that's more the way I look at it than there being no interest from fans. 

[Sweet Pete]

Well I tell you what, I'm a Trust member. I'll put my name forward when the time comes, or now if that's available.

[Sweet Pete]

31 minutes ago, Grumpysonoftherock said:

Dumbarton 19s player Jacob Shields called up to the Scottish Schools team. 

 

Absolutely fantastic.

 

I mean, Booooo! He'll no dae. Sack the board.

[The Moonster]

8 minutes ago, Sweet Pete said:

Absolutely fantastic.

 

I mean, Booooo! He'll no dae. Sack the board.

Wind yer neck in man. Things can be discussed without this childish pish. 

[Sons fan 1872]

At the meet the manager session someone from the trust mentioned the trust were meeting with the owner of the club after 10 years of him saying no. Does anyone know how it went if it went ahead?

[Sweet Pete]

5 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

Wind yer neck in man. Things can be discussed without this childish pish. 

That sounds like something a stinky poo face would say

[BallochSonsFan]

2 minutes ago, Sons fan 1872 said:

At the meet the manager session someone from the trust mentioned the trust were meeting with the owner of the club after 10 years of him saying no. Does anyone know how it went if it went ahead?

It went ahead. It was very informal, but a welcome first step to actually pin down the ownership group and have that initial conversation. One that was long overdue. Both sides made some robust representation.

Would expect a proper round up of what the trust has been doing for the next trust newsletter.

[O'Kelly Isley III]

1 hour ago, BallochSonsFan said:

It went ahead. It was very informal, but a welcome first step to actually pin down the ownership group and have that initial conversation. One that was long overdue. Both sides made some robust representation.

Would expect a proper round up of what the trust has been doing for the next trust newsletter.

I was there too, and it was worthwhile, interesting and revelatory in equal measure.  I would liken the  discussion as one you would have after a few jars in the pub as opposed to a Golf Club Committee meeting, and was all the better for that.  There was even some swearing.

I also found it mildly fascinating that all it took for the meeting to take place was an Email approach from the Trust Chairman, in contrast to what we had been led to believe.

It's too early to gauge any outcomes, but keep watching this space.

[pleslie99]

I have zero issues with the pricing for the cup tie for any of the above. Ticket prices, may be steep but it is the Scottish cup, both teams need to agree on them, we will sell out regardless, I wouldn’t be fussed if we had went higher.

parking, again steep but there is plenty ‘free’ parking near the ground if it’s an issue, pay it for convenience or not, I don’t really see the uproar! 
hospitality, very steep, however, the number of rangers fans trying to get to the game and can’t means we can basically charge what we like, and we are, it’s a way for them to see the game and give us a big chunk of money too!

there’s plenty rangers fans wanting tickets, iv been asked by 3 separate ones today to get them tickets (all told to bolt) and all were willing to pay over the odds! I don’t get that mentality tbh, it’s a game against a team they will comfortably beat, that’s on telly. Do they think they are classed as a bigger fan if they are there? Fleece them for whatever we can, then forget about it and move on.

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

21 minutes ago, pleslie99 said:

I have zero issues with the pricing for the cup tie for any of the above. Ticket prices, may be steep but it is the Scottish cup, both teams need to agree on them, we will sell out regardless, I wouldn’t be fussed if we had went higher.

parking, again steep but there is plenty ‘free’ parking near the ground if it’s an issue, pay it for convenience or not, I don’t really see the uproar! 
hospitality, very steep, however, the number of rangers fans trying to get to the game and can’t means we can basically charge what we like, and we are, it’s a way for them to see the game and give us a big chunk of money too!

there’s plenty rangers fans wanting tickets, iv been asked by 3 separate ones today to get them tickets (all told to bolt) and all were willing to pay over the odds! I don’t get that mentality tbh, it’s a game against a team they will comfortably beat, that’s on telly. Do they think they are classed as a bigger fan if they are there? Fleece them for whatever we can, then forget about it and move on.

We are playing a Scottish Cup tie at our own stadium, our priority shouldn’t be charging as much as we can to Rangers fans, it should be our own supporters. I’m all for trying to make money out of the tie, but “fleece them for whatever we can” also means we are fleecing our own supporters in the process. Lets not forget we’ll be getting a decent chunk of money from our TV appearance as well. 

Perhaps if we put as much effort into finding a shirt sponsor we wouldn’t have to charge elderly Dumbarton supporters a tenner to park for 2 hours.

 

 

[Jan Vojáček]

Spoke to Jinky Hilton last week, and he said that he had worked the hardest he'd ever worked in football to make sure he was ready when his chance came along.

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/dumbartons-jinky-hilton-its-hardest-31727644

I think he's a very good player. Actually, and this is rare too, I don't think there's a Sons fan who has too many doubts or complaints about him. I don't think he's particularly effective as a striker; but play him a bit deeper and I think he can do things that very few players in this division can (see his play for Matty Shiels' goal last week).

We've got a good range of attacking options this year, but comments like that from Jinky are really showing the benefits of the strength-in-depth we have in the attacking positions. Last year he'd have started every week for us regardless of his form. Now guys know that they are having to really work their backsides off to nail down a spot in the team. And that can only be a good thing.

I'm really hoping Ross MacLean can do something similar. It's so frustrating having someone who single-handedly destroyed the best defence in the league in August. But has barely laid a glove on anyone since.

[Boghead ranter]

[George Parr]

A top 4 finish remains eminently achievable but the ship swam on the title challenge today. 10 points behind and a chronic inability to win crunch fixtures...something remarkable would have to happen.

This squad has underachieved, what a pity.