Sons' sorrow

[Clarko_son]

DUMBARTON FC are delighted to confirm that Cameron House Hotel, part of the world famous DeVere Hotels group, have signed a partnership agreement with the Sons.

DFC Chief Executive Gilbert Lawrie explains : "We are grateful to the team at Cameron House who are helping us with accommodation for Aaron Barry whilst he is on loan from Sheffield Utd.

"Aaron travels to Dumbarton on Thursdays befeore each weekend game and stays over until the Saturday night before returning home.

"Cameron House are sponsoring the nights that Aaron is with us ensuring that he gets fully rested before matches."

from the OS, so does that mean Barry trains with us on a Thursday night, and the presumably trains with Sheffield Mon-Wed or whatever their arrangement is?

[The Moonster]

I'd imagine so. They'll still want him doing full-time training and we can't offer that. It'll be interesting to see if his loan is extended in January, all that travelling could put him off but also their new manager might want him back. Good to see Cameron House helping out with this though, hopefully they take more interest in sponsoring us further.

[Jan Vojáček]

If he doesn't extend his loan in January another centre back is desperately needed. Who else have we got that can play there? Scott Smith?(a central defensive paring of him and the chase is too slow imo) Recall Joe Coleman?,(he's really very young to be playing in the Championship). I would imagine that will be the area where we see the most transfer activity in January. We really need more than 2 centre backs for the typical Sat/Wed/Sat nature of Feb/March.

[Clarko_son]

If he doesn't extend his loan in January another centre back is desperately needed. Who else have we got that can play there? Scott Smith?(a central defensive paring of him and the chase is too slow imo) Recall Joe Coleman?,(he's really very young to be playing in the Championship). I would imagine that will be the area where we see the most transfer activity in January. We really need more than 2 centre backs for the typical Sat/Wed/Sat nature of Feb/March.

If his loan isn't extended I'd expect another loan to come in, maybe from the SPL rather than having to transport a player up every weekend. Just depends on who's available

[sons superhero]

Maybe someone Big Tel doesn't like the look of at Hibs. That could be the whole team though.

[Frank Quitely]

Now that call-offs are becoming a fairly regular occurence at the BBS, what happens to folk who have booked hospitality ?

[The Moonster]

Now that call-offs are becoming a fairly regular occurence at the BBS, what happens to folk who have booked hospitality ?

I assume they get their money back and the club misses out. Don't see many folk interested in going to hospitality on a Tuesday night. I don't imagine the SFA rep doing the inspection thinks too much about that. We could have played that game on Saturday, of that I have no doubt.

[johnny graham]

Just looking at a photo of a game in Scotland in the fifties. A player is taking a corner with water about three or four inches up the flag. The bye line and shy line are both submerged and invisible. The rest of.the pitch is a swamp but as the author says the game continues to a finish with a monsoon still.falling.

Great days we had real men playing.the game then.

[Sweet Pete]

Just looking at a photo of a game in Scotland in the fifties. A player is taking a corner with water about three or four inches up the flag. The bye line and shy line are both submerged and invisible. The rest of.the pitch is a swamp but as the author says the game continues to a finish with a monsoon still.falling.

Great days we had real men playing.the game then.

Aye great days. You know what else I miss? Polio.

[BallochSonsFan]

Was ours the only professional game cancelled on Saturday?

In an ideal world we need some work done on the ground. Proper frost protection or a synthetic pitch and proper lighting would be the most urgent work. Unfortunately when the owners are still considering how many houses they can fit on the land and where we could relocate to, there would be little point in any investment in bringing our facilities up to scratch right now.

[son hawk]

What's the deal with the Dundee tickets then? Is it just the family group tickets to be bought before hand at the stadium or is it all tickets? It's not very clear on the website.

[The Moonster]

What's the deal with the Dundee tickets then? Is it just the family group tickets to be bought before hand at the stadium or is it all tickets? It's not very clear on the website.

Looks like just the Family Group tickets that they are selling beforehand as they will not be available to purchase on the day, for some strange reason.

[The Moonster]

Seen as someone started the discussion, what do we think about the squad coming into January?

I think we still don't really know what our best team is, some would argue the 4-5-1 with Shug, Agnew and CT in midfield is our best but others would argue we play better with Prunty playing off the main striker. For me, the big issue will be whether or not Barry stays. He might be fed up with the travelling and the new Sheffield United manager might want a closer look at him. Whilst he is prone to the odd moment of casual as f**k defending, we have played the same back 5 pretty much every game this season and I think that helps a lot. It'll be beneficial if we can hold on to him but I would like to think that by now we will have an indication of whether or not we will be holding on to both of our loanees and if we're not I'd hope we've already been looking at replacements. I don't see Thistle wanting Shug back so hopefully he'll stay.

I'd perhaps like to see us strengthen up top if someone comes available. I don't think Murray is sure what his best combination up there is and if I'm honest, I don't think any of our strikers cause enough problems for defences (bar Prunty). Prunty runs his arse off and is the best finisher at the club and for this reason I think he should be starting every game but when you look at what Nish and Smith have offered up so far, it hardly inspires confidence. Getting Fleming back will obviously be a boost and I'd like to see him and Prunty given a run of games together but if we could offload someone (i.e. Kevin Smith) to bring in someone who might actually make an impact I'd be pleased with that.

As an aside, does McKerracher even play football any more? No reserve team so no games there and he's not getting a look in for the first team. Can't be good for his development, which is a real shame as he's got heaps of talent.

[untitled00]

Seen as someone started the discussion, what do we think about the squad coming into January?

I think we still don't really know what our best team is, some would argue the 4-5-1 with Shug, Agnew and CT in midfield is our best but others would argue we play better with Prunty playing off the main striker. For me, the big issue will be whether or not Barry stays. He might be fed up with the travelling and the new Sheffield United manager might want a closer look at him. Whilst he is prone to the odd moment of casual as f**k defending, we have played the same back 5 pretty much every game this season and I think that helps a lot. It'll be beneficial if we can hold on to him but I would like to think that by now we will have an indication of whether or not we will be holding on to both of our loanees and if we're not I'd hope we've already been looking at replacements. I don't see Thistle wanting Shug back so hopefully he'll stay.

I'd perhaps like to see us strengthen up top if someone comes available. I don't think Murray is sure what his best combination up there is and if I'm honest, I don't think any of our strikers cause enough problems for defences (bar Prunty). Prunty runs his arse off and is the best finisher at the club and for this reason I think he should be starting every game but when you look at what Nish and Smith have offered up so far, it hardly inspires confidence. Getting Fleming back will obviously be a boost and I'd like to see him and Prunty given a run of games together but if we could offload someone (i.e. Kevin Smith) to bring in someone who might actually make an impact I'd be pleased with that.

As an aside, does McKerracher even play football any more? No reserve team so no games there and he's not getting a look in for the first team. Can't be good for his development, which is a real shame as he's got heaps of talent.

I'd like us to keep Barry as well as we're conceding less goals at the minute (down to 1 a game for the past 3 games which must be our best record in over a year) but the real issue at the moment for me is that we've looked a bit toothless going forward in the last 2 games. Obviously Agnew is a big miss but we should still have enough creativity with Kirkpatrick/Turner and our 2 wide men to create more clean cut oppurtunities. As at the moment aside from crosses we're not cutting teams open or getting in behing them.

Nish and Smith have not been as good as we'd have hoped and arguably Prunty and Fleming should be first choice(s) for the strikers position. Another issue we have is teams are adapting to how we play a bit more, I've noticed teams try to stop us getting forward down our right hand side with McGinn/Gilhaney, often pressing McGinn (in particular) much higher than they were last year.

For me we need another striker and Agnew back asap.

We could still do with some defensive cover but we've went all season so far without any so I dont see that changing...

[Frank Quitely]

Seen as someone started the discussion, what do we think about the squad coming into January?

I think we still don't really know what our best team is, some would argue the 4-5-1 with Shug, Agnew and CT in midfield is our best but others would argue we play better with Prunty playing off the main striker. For me, the big issue will be whether or not Barry stays. He might be fed up with the travelling and the new Sheffield United manager might want a closer look at him. Whilst he is prone to the odd moment of casual as f**k defending, we have played the same back 5 pretty much every game this season and I think that helps a lot. It'll be beneficial if we can hold on to him but I would like to think that by now we will have an indication of whether or not we will be holding on to both of our loanees and if we're not I'd hope we've already been looking at replacements. I don't see Thistle wanting Shug back so hopefully he'll stay.

I'd perhaps like to see us strengthen up top if someone comes available. I don't think Murray is sure what his best combination up there is and if I'm honest, I don't think any of our strikers cause enough problems for defences (bar Prunty). Prunty runs his arse off and is the best finisher at the club and for this reason I think he should be starting every game but when you look at what Nish and Smith have offered up so far, it hardly inspires confidence. Getting Fleming back will obviously be a boost and I'd like to see him and Prunty given a run of games together but if we could offload someone (i.e. Kevin Smith) to bring in someone who might actually make an impact I'd be pleased with that.

As an aside, does McKerracher even play football any more? No reserve team so no games there and he's not getting a look in for the first team. Can't be good for his development, which is a real shame as he's got heaps of talent.

In an nutshell we're far too lightweight, with too many neat footballers who cannot cope when opposing teams press hard on the man in possession - Alloa and Queens did this to good effect last week.

Barry will I think remain for the season and I hear he will be happy to do that for playing time reasons - good stuff if true. He, Linton, Graham, Fleming, Ewings & Prunty have all earned pass marks whilst McGinn, Aggy and Turner have still to reach the heights of last season.

I have to say that given the level they've played at, Murray and especially Nish have been a disappointment so far; I really expected much more from them. Gils, Megginson and Kirkpatrick are just the sort of neat but misfiring players mentioned above - we can't afford too many such types in a relegation dogfight. McKerracher could be a decent shout down the right hand side.

As for January, I'd have no problem shipping out Kevin Smith, McDougall and Phinn to bring in a centre-back and a goal-scoring striker at the very least. It might not be that easy however

[The Moonster]

In an nutshell we're far too lightweight, with too many neat footballers who cannot cope when opposing teams press hard on the man in possession - Alloa and Queens did this to good effect last week.

Barry will I think remain for the season and I hear he will be happy to do that for playing time reasons - good stuff if true. He, Linton, Graham, Fleming, Ewings & Prunty have all earned pass marks whilst McGinn, Aggy and Turner have still to reach the heights of last season.

I have to say that given the level they've played at, Murray and especially Nish have been a disappointment so far; I really expected much more from them. Gils, Megginson and Kirkpatrick are just the sort of neat but misfiring players mentioned above - we can't afford too many such types in a relegation dogfight. McKerracher could be a decent shout down the right hand side.

As for January, I'd have no problem shipping out Kevin Smith, McDougall and Phinn to bring in a centre-back and a goal-scoring striker at the very least. It might not be that easy however

I don't think we are too lightweight. Our back 4 can handle themselves and Hugh Murray and Chris Turner are hardly what I'd describe as lightweight. We don't need big bruisers in this league. Would you say Alloa and Queens are more "heavyweight" than us? I don't think so. Maybe we do struggle when teams press us, but I'd put that down to composure and movement more than strength. I think Hugh Murray's done reasonably well and it's no surprise his best performances have come when Turner and Agnew are in there next to him pulling the strings. Murray is never going to play killer passes or score from 30 yards, he's there to break up play and give it to someone with passing ability.

I agree with your point on Gils, Mitch and Kirkpatrick that when they're not on their game it really harms our attacking options but in Gilhaney's case, his work rate is excellent these days and I certainly don't think he's one we can drop.

Agree on Nish, I've said it before that if we still had Lister we'd be doing far better than we are this year. I do find it a bit baffling how Nish looks so poor having played at a higher level pretty much all his career.

MacDougall is a strange one, god knows what's happened to him. He was excellent at the tail end of last year but has been missing this year. Phinn, I forget every week that we've even signed him.

[optimistic]

Personally i think nish has been ok considering not too much game play. Everyone raved about him and murray after the dundee utd game. Smith been very poor for me. Mcdougall was injured but coming back, maybe give him a run for a tired looking gil. Surely kirkpatrick is the closest to aggy we have yet playing him wide? Agreed about mckerracher, we need to see more of him

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

Personally i think nish has been ok considering not too much game play. Everyone raved about him and murray after the dundee utd game. Smith been very poor for me. Mcdougall was injured but coming back, maybe give him a run for a tired looking gil. Surely kirkpatrick is the closest to aggy we have yet playing him wide? Agreed about mckerracher, we need to see more of him

Pretty sure Nish has featured in every game since he joined other than when he was suspended for a sending off. Plenty of game time and other than the Morton game has done hee haw.

Kirkpatrick has great feet and I do really like him as a player but he can't play a killer pass like Agnew can. It's only when he's missing that you realise how good he is at splitting a defence in two with a single pass. We haven't been scoring as much since he's been out injured.

Would like to see us punt Kevin Smith and bring in a new striker. Also wouldn't be against sending Scott Smith on loan and replacing him with a less obese defender. I was genuinely shocked at the size of him on Saturday, even more out of shape than he was at the start of the season. If McKerracher isn't goin to get any game time with us I'm all for him going out on loan. Fingers crossed we can hang on to Barry and Murray.

[Jan Vojáček]

In other news Paul Nugent played and scored for the Vale on Saturday. Good to see him back in football.

[Jordo1872]

I don't think we are too lightweight. Our back 4 can handle themselves and Hugh Murray and Chris Turner are hardly what I'd describe as lightweight. We don't need big bruisers in this league. Would you say Alloa and Queens are more "heavyweight" than us? I don't think so. Maybe we do struggle when teams press us, but I'd put that down to composure and movement more than strength. I think Hugh Murray's done reasonably well and it's no surprise his best performances have come when Turner and Agnew are in there next to him pulling the strings. Murray is never going to play killer passes or score from 30 yards, he's there to break up play and give it to someone with passing ability. I agree with your point on Gils, Mitch and Kirkpatrick that when they're not on their game it really harms our attacking options but in Gilhaney's case, his work rate is excellent these days and I certainly don't think he's one we can drop. Agree on Nish, I've said it before that if we still had Lister we'd be doing far better than we are this year. I do find it a bit baffling how Nish looks so poor having played at a higher level pretty much all his career. MacDougall is a strange one, god knows what's happened to him. He was excellent at the tail end of last year but has been missing this year. Phinn, I forget every week that we've even signed him.

Queen of the South are cetainly more heavyweight than us; although we agree in the sense that too much emphasis is put on this. Graham and Turner certainly aren't pushovers and we get plenty of dig from Murray, Fleming and Barry when it comes to physical contribution. In any case, I'm not sure how we could strengthen in that particular area given you don't find many 6ft plus wingers out there. However where we do fall short is in the forward positions. Consider the impact Lister had when played in the lone striker role, now compare with that of Nish and Smith.

I'd be willing to let McDougall, Smith and Nish go in Januart, and send McKerrecher(sp?) out on loan if he isn't getting a chance in the current first team. I'd like to see us bring in a centre-forward and another central defender, regardless of whether or not Barry stays.

Edited December 12, 2013 by Jordo1872