Sons' sorrow

[BallochSonsFan]

I'd encourage all trust members to vote. I won't make any comment about either candidate as it would be inappropriate to do so. The membership has to vote for the person they think can best represent the trust at board level. What I will say is that whether we had 2 or 20 candidates, it takes a hell of a lot to be willing to take on a role like this and both candidates deserve a lot of respect for being willing to step up and represent the trust on the club's board. 

[Sons Fan]

7 hours ago, Sweet Pete said:

Ultimately, whomsoever the Trust person on the DFC board is will have absolutely zero impact on stadium size or the league the club occupies. These are all just empty words to try and get votes, but ultimately carrying out these promises is nigh on impossible. Maybe getting better electronic payment terminals is possible, but most of the other suggestions aren't things a trust nominee to the board would have the power or ability to provide. They can suggest things, but when the answer comes back "no money for that" or "we'll look into it" then that's where the matter dies.

I don’t disagree that it will be a hard role but IMO we do need to think a little differently about how we approach doing things. 
 

Take one of my suggestions. I would like to upgrade the bar facilities and the AV to allow for live sport etc.

Going to the board and saying I want to do this, give me £3k will likely fail.

Going to the board saying I want to do this. It’ll cost £3k with a business case and a plan to cover some or all of the costs will likely be more received more favourably.

ATM rasing money is really hard but I do wonder if we change the approach from “we are raising money for the club” which may feel like it goes into a black hole  to “we are raising money for x upgrade/project” where you can see the outcome, might be more effective. 

 

[Sweet Pete]

11 minutes ago, Sons Fan said:

I don’t disagree that it will be a hard role but IMO we do need to think a little differently about how we approach doing things. 
 

Take one of my suggestions. I would like to upgrade the bar facilities and the AV to allow for live sport etc.

Going to the board and saying I want to do this, give me £3k will likely fail.

Going to the board saying I want to do this. It’ll cost £3k with a business case and a plan to cover some or all of the costs will likely be more received more favourably.

ATM rasing money is really hard but I do wonder if we change the approach from “we are raising money for the club” which may feel like it goes into a black hole  to “we are raising money for x upgrade/project” where you can see the outcome, might be more effective. 

 

I'm going to need Premiership football and more fans than 7 out of the current 12 top flight clubs I'm afraid.

[Sweet Pete]

If I'm elected I promise strippers in the bar pre match. And ching. Vote for Pedro.

[George Parr]

How many candidates are there?

[Jordo1872]

11 minutes ago, George Parr said:

How many candidates are there?

Two candidates. Cameron Watson and Robert Aitken/

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

10 hours ago, Sons Fan said:

In short no. It was never intended to be a selling point. People who know me will know the connection but others may not and I wanted to be open and honest about it from the start.

What is your connection to A Hosie?

[Curler]

Having read their pitches for the position of the Trust’s representative on the full board of DFC I have the following comments.

Fife Son

i agree that we need to increase the fan base but at the moment increasing the ground capacity is not an option. When was the last time that we filled our end of the ground to its full capacity (apart from the Rangers game)? Having the extra stands would be great but to benefit from such an investment the team would need to be a established Championship team.

Encouraging more community involvement in the use of the facilities would bring in much needed revenue but that needs engagement with local community groups to achieve these benefits by means of employing a community liaison post to reach out to them.

The £110000 income from the Cup games needs to be spent (if it has not gone elsewhere) on employing a decent local grounds person or the investing in an artificial pitch which could bring additional benefits to the club as the club’s main priority right now. Secondly I would invest in a decent website builder as the current (improved version) is hopeless. 
 

I see that you are involved in local community groups which is a good thing and hopefully if you are successful in your nomination your business qualifications as well would bring some value to the Board.

 

Sons Fan

i like your sentiment and honesty regarding your family connection to the club. However I feel this may go against you as you may be seen as another tool in the Andy Hosie’s vision for the club (whatever that is). I hope I am wrong and that your youth and enthusiastic ideas are welcoming and would hope to come to fruition. Youth is the future of the club and without it there is no long term viability of the club in senior football.. I agree that we need to advance with the times and that technology is the way forward and that your expertise in that area is something that the Board should be looking at.

 

In summary

i too have been involved in the club when we were at Boghead organising the sale of programmes and saw the behind the scenes that took place to run the club. My son has been a ball boy as well. It was well run with the supporters at the heart of it but since the advent of Brabco and Cognitive Capital I feel that the club has been in decline and they need to be gone, how this achieved I don’t know. I also have a connection with the club but I won’t let this sway my vote. Good luck too the candidates

[O'Kelly Isley III]

11 hours ago, FifeSons said:

I was thinking that, too… I’d probably have avoided mentioning that. I guess the rest of the Hosies have done well by DFC (as far as I know). Maybe he just wanted to be fully transparent about the connection.

I think your last sentence is key, and as sure as dammit if the candidate HADN'T been upfront then there would have been no shortage of folk sniping about it - damned if you do and damned if you don't, but with the connection out in the open at least Trust members can now make a decision based on knowledge.

[FifeSons]

Any word on Orsi's knock?

[Jan Vojáček]

12 minutes ago, FifeSons said:

Any word on Orsi's knock?

I think he was just tightening up a wee bit with a mixture of the effort and the pitch. Assuming it's not stayed tight then he should be fine for this weekend, Faz certainly didn't mention anything about worrying he'd be out.

[Sons Fan]

35 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

What is your connection to A Hosie?

Business - no connection at all.

Family - I refer to him as my cousin but I think technically he’s my second cousin.

[Sons Fan]

31 minutes ago, Curler said:

Having read their pitches for the position of the Trust’s representative on the full board of DFC I have the following comments.

Fife Son

i agree that we need to increase the fan base but at the moment increasing the ground capacity is not an option. When was the last time that we filled our end of the ground to its full capacity (apart from the Rangers game)? Having the extra stands would be great but to benefit from such an investment the team would need to be a established Championship team.

Encouraging more community involvement in the use of the facilities would bring in much needed revenue but that needs engagement with local community groups to achieve these benefits by means of employing a community liaison post to reach out to them.

The £110000 income from the Cup games needs to be spent (if it has not gone elsewhere) on employing a decent local grounds person or the investing in an artificial pitch which could bring additional benefits to the club as the club’s main priority right now. Secondly I would invest in a decent website builder as the current (improved version) is hopeless. 
 

I see that you are involved in local community groups which is a good thing and hopefully if you are successful in your nomination your business qualifications as well would bring some value to the Board.

 

Sons Fan

i like your sentiment and honesty regarding your family connection to the club. However I feel this may go against you as you may be seen as another tool in the Andy Hosie’s vision for the club (whatever that is). I hope I am wrong and that your youth and enthusiastic ideas are welcoming and would hope to come to fruition. Youth is the future of the club and without it there is no long term viability of the club in senior football.. I agree that we need to advance with the times and that technology is the way forward and that your expertise in that area is something that the Board should be looking at.

 

In summary

i too have been involved in the club when we were at Boghead organising the sale of programmes and saw the behind the scenes that took place to run the club. My son has been a ball boy as well. It was well run with the supporters at the heart of it but since the advent of Brabco and Cognitive Capital I feel that the club has been in decline and they need to be gone, how this achieved I don’t know. I also have a connection with the club but I won’t let this sway my vote. Good luck too the candidates

Re my connection to Andy - I fully understand peoples concerns and tbh it’s one of the reasons I haven’t came forward previously as I felt people would come to the conclusion you mentioned. Before putting my name forward I did asked around to get peoples options on it and generally it wasn’t seen as a massive issue but time will tell so I decided to proceed. 
 

Ultimately people will make their own judgment on it but all I can say is.

I have never hidden the connection.

I am my own man and no someone’s “person”

At previous Trust/football club events I have actively supported people talking openly and freely about any of my wider family involvement, good or bad. It’s not my place to defend their decisions, they are all capable in doing so on their own.

Re the money made from the Gers game. Unless there is pressing liabilities I wouldn’t be rushing to spend the money. Let’s bank it and review in the summer.
 

 

 

[The Moonster]

5 minutes ago, Sons Fan said:

Re my connection to Andy - I fully understand peoples concerns and tbh it’s one of the reasons I haven’t came forward previously as I felt people would come to the conclusion you mentioned. Before putting my name forward I did asked around to get peoples options on it and generally it wasn’t seen as a massive issue but time will tell so I decided to proceed. 
 

Ultimately people will make their own judgment on it but all I can say is.

I have never hidden the connection.

I am my own man and no someone’s “person”

At previous Trust/football club events I have actively supported people talking openly and freely about any of my wider family involvement, good or bad. It’s not my place to defend their decisions, they are all capable in doing so on their own.

Re the money made from the Gers game. Unless there is pressing liabilities I wouldn’t be rushing to spend the money. Let’s bank it and review in the summer.
 

 

 

I commend you for coming forward and the board absolutely needs someone with a younger demographic. I also appreciate you being open on here and looking to answer queations. However for me by far the biggest issue at the club is ownership and right now nobody on the board is asking questions of the ownerships plan for the club. Improving bar facilities is great, so is increasing community engagement but neither of those things matter if there isn't a club here to support, and for that reason I feel ownership issues should be the number 1 priority for any Trust rep on the board. So I suppose my question would be do you feel confident and comfortable enough to challenge the ownership on these issues despite the family connection? 

[Jan Vojáček]

Declan Byrne away as well as Matty Shiels.

https://dumbartonfootballclub.com/duo-depart-dumbarton/

I hope Byrne gets something sorted and gets an injury free season under his belt. I really thought he looked the part last season; strong, direct and a good finisher. But he's barely been fit for well over a year now, and is some way behind Ruth as a player. Which isn't a huge criticism given how good Michael Ruth is.

Him and MacLean didn't do a great deal this season, but it does leave us a wee bit light on attacking options. Although I suppose we have Kelly, as well as Hilton and Ryan Wallace up there if needs be.

[Clarko_son]

Shiels leaving I understand as he wants a full time opportunity, shame to lose him but can't really stand in anyone's way if the clause was there.

Byrne leaving also makes sense, started last season well and then it was just injuries all the time. I'm hoping someone does come in now as we've got Ruth as the only actual striker now short of wingers getting shoved in. Probably can get away with it for a game but not the rest of the season if Ruth is out for any length of time.

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

I said at the start of the season that offering guys like Byrne a deal is just a complete waste of a wage. When he was fit and firing last season he was a decent enough striker at this level but that simply wasn’t often enough. Trimming guys like him, MacLean and Broun and bringing in the two defenders, Kelly and Hogarth is really good business IMO - deadwood gone and guys who can contribute something brought in. 

Has there been any further update on Callum Wilson’s fitness/potential return? 

[Jan Vojáček]

2 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

I said at the start of the season that offering guys like Byrne a deal is just a complete waste of a wage. When he was fit and firing last season he was a decent enough striker at this level but that simply wasn’t often enough. Trimming guys like him, MacLean and Broun and bringing in the two defenders, Kelly and Hogarth is really good business IMO - deadwood gone and guys who can contribute something brought in. 

Has there been any further update on Callum Wilson’s fitness/potential return? 

Bottom few paragraphs here (or P30 wing in today's Lennox if you'd rather) have an update on Callum and Durnan

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/dumbarton-boss-farrell-theres-no-31917767#ICID=Android_DailyRecordNewsApp_AppShare

[Jordo1872]

8 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

I said at the start of the season that offering guys like Byrne a deal is just a complete waste of a wage. When he was fit and firing last season he was a decent enough striker at this level but that simply wasn’t often enough. Trimming guys like him, MacLean and Broun and bringing in the two defenders, Kelly and Hogarth is really good business IMO - deadwood gone and guys who can contribute something brought in. 

Has there been any further update on Callum Wilson’s fitness/potential return? 

I was thinking the other day about how you would summarise Farrell’s tenure in terms of successes, and came to the conclusion that you’d find it pretty difficult to find any notable achievements in terms of results on the park, progression in cup competitions, wins against the odds etc. Ultimately he’s led us to relegation and pretty mediocre seasons have followed, particularly when you balance that with my second point.
 

Which is that the one positive our could argue is that generally speaking his recruitment has been consistently good. Sure there’s been a few bombscares along the way and deals offered to Byrne is an example of a gamble that won’t always pay off at our level, but retaining Gray and recruiting the likes of Long, Carlo, Shiels, Ruth and Orsi are examples of very good business in my view. I think it’s clear his recruitment and man management is good, which largely puts more expectation on results and that’s where it’s simply not working for Faz.

[O'Kelly Isley III]

27 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

I said at the start of the season that offering guys like Byrne a deal is just a complete waste of a wage. When he was fit and firing last season he was a decent enough striker at this level but that simply wasn’t often enough. Trimming guys like him, MacLean and Broun and bringing in the two defenders, Kelly and Hogarth is really good business IMO - deadwood gone and guys who can contribute something brought in. 

Has there been any further update on Callum Wilson’s fitness/potential return? 

Aye, up to a point Your Honour.  We will now see out this season with three loanees in Hogarth, Newbury and Lennon, and whilst the first two look very decent for this level, and hopefully young Lennon too, I doubt any of them will be here next season.

We look as if we are literally limping thro this campaign, and if Hogarth were to get injured we're again up shit creek.  Some of that is down to rotten luck, eg Greig Young and Brett Long, but there's a general feeling of drift about things and even if we retain a top four place is anyone feeling confident about overcoming teams we've really struggled against ?

Taking everything into account over the past three seasons I would consider that finishing in the top four but remaining in League Two come May should not preclude an urgent review of the team management.