Sons' sorrow

[Howlin' Wilf]

7 hours ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

Surely if you aren’t spending as much as other teams you need a manager who can get the best out of the resources at his disposal ala Ian Murray in the Championship? 

Out of interest who had a lower budget than us and who is able to determine exactly who’s budget is what? It’s not like chairman phone each other up to disclose their budget to each other. I mean sometimes it’s obvious by looking at squads but I can’t imagine ourselves, Montrose, Forfar, Clyde or Peterhead were operating on massively different budgets. Montrose finished 4th but I wouldn’t think they have the 4th highest budget in the division, they just have a good manager.

The Ian Murray situation was a bit different. We were the highest placed part-time club in the SPFL so we pretty much had the pick of part time players despite having a lower budget than other Championship clubs. Thus very decent players who had a good job were signed. Murray was a good manager for us too of course. The information on our budget came from a reliable source with knowledge of the situation.  Clyde have a significantly bigger budget than Dumbarton, but even with David Goodwillie finished only a point above us. Falkirk had probably the biggest budget in the division and finished seven points above us. To put that in context we finished eight points ahead of Forfar. I just wonder what an extra £50,000 (around 25% of our budget) might have done had it been available.

I'm not certain of Montrose's playing budget but I see from their 2020 accounts that they were £385,874 in debt and that they lost £40k that year. Peterhead (who appear to be tenants of Balmoor and would appear to be surviving with board guarantees) were £634,123 in debt at May 2020 and lost nearly £220,000 that year. DFC's debt for the same period was £282,000 and they lost just under £60k.

 

 

[The Moonster]

12 minutes ago, Howlin' Wilf said:

The Ian Murray situation was a bit different. We were the highest placed part-time club in the SPFL so we pretty much had the pick of part time players despite having a lower budget than other Championship clubs. Thus very decent players who had a good job were signed. Murray was a good manager for us too of course. The information on our budget came from a reliable source with knowledge of the situation.  Clyde have a significantly bigger budget than Dumbarton, but even with David Goodwillie finished only a point above us. Falkirk had probably the biggest budget in the division and finished seven points above us. To put that in context we finished eight points ahead of Forfar. I just wonder what an extra £50,000 (around 25% of our budget) might have done had it been available.

I'm not certain of Montrose's playing budget but I see from their 2020 accounts that they were £385,874 in debt and that they lost £40k that year. Peterhead (who appear to be tenants of Balmoor and would appear to be surviving with board guarantees) were £634,123 in debt at May 2020 and lost nearly £220,000 that year. DFC's debt for the same period was £282,000 and they lost just under £60k.

 

 

Is our debt not the debt which was owed to Rankine, which has apparently now been satisfied? 

[Howlin' Wilf]

7 hours ago, O'Kelly Isley III said:

I totally agree Wilf, and the reality probably is that the only two people at the club who really know the going rates are Jim Duffy and Barry Smith.  It's a moot point whether they would produce better results with a bigger budget but it probably explains why a punt was taken this season on Denny Johnstone, Donald Morrison, Ruaridh Langan and some others.  However, it is also a truism that if you operate on a very low budget then you are very unlikely to attract the sort of manager to take you places.  QED.

This coming period will be a massive indicator of whether the new owners are committed to the football aspect - as reminder, the reason DFC has been in existence since December 1872 - or whether they will primarily concentrate their efforts on the land deals vacated by Brabco.  

As you know, the point I have been making all along was that it was Brabco 736 which was for sale and not Dumbarton FC. Brabco 736 was a Special Purpose Vehicle Company set up with the specific purpose of relocating DFC's stadium. It was therefore that idea which was for sale. At face value and without an enabling housing development at Dalmoak it looks very difficult to achieve. However at today's escalating house prices, the five houses and 32 flats proposed for the car park land should net enough in profit for Cognitive/Mor Homes DFC, to recoup their "investment".

On the playing side, we can only hope that the "global contacts" of Henning Kristoffersen bear fruit.

[Howlin' Wilf]

4 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

Is our debt not the debt which was owed to Rankine, which has apparently now been satisfied? 

I don't think so. I think that is part of Brabco's debt of £3,007,827 which they spunked away on trying to move us.

[O'Kelly Isley III]

1 hour ago, Howlin' Wilf said:

As you know, the point I have been making all along was that it was Brabco 736 which was for sale and not Dumbarton FC. Brabco 736 was a Special Purpose Vehicle Company set up with the specific purpose of relocating DFC's stadium. It was therefore that idea which was for sale. At face value and without an enabling housing development at Dalmoak it looks very difficult to achieve. However at today's escalating house prices, the five houses and 32 flats proposed for the car park land should net enough in profit for Cognitive/Mor Homes DFC, to recoup their "investment".

On the playing side, we can only hope pray that the "global contacts" of Henning Kristoffersen bear fruit actually exist.

Point well made Wilf, but I've fixed that closing sentence for you.

[Howlin' Wilf]

1 minute ago, O'Kelly Isley III said:

Point well made Wilf, but I've fixed that closing sentence for you.

I think that was what I meant 

[Nowhereman]

Is our debt not the debt which was owed to Rankine, which has apparently now been satisfied? 

The debt to Rankine might have been repaid but the debt has only been shifted to another lender

[Howlin' Wilf]

8 hours ago, Nowhereman said:

The debt to Rankine might have been repaid but the debt has only been shifted to another lender

Indeed. Pendragon, aka Gareth Paul  Philips has bought the debt.

[D'Jaffo]

Nick McAllister any good?

[Jan Vojáček]

1 minute ago, D'Jaffo said:

Nick McAllister any good?

Yes. Very good. He'd be a cracking signing for anyone in the Championship.

[D'Jaffo]

Yes. Very good. He'd be a cracking signing for anyone in the Championship.

Report says he’s a defender although some sites have him down as a midfielder. Where did he play for you guys?

[NilNil]

28 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

Report says he’s a defender although some sites have him down as a midfielder. Where did he play for you guys?

Right back. And he was excellent. Commanding, good in the air, fit as a flea and strong tackler too. Too good for league one.

[the snudge]

50 minutes ago, D'Jaffo said:

Nick McAllister any good?

Yup, he's fit, energetic, good in the tackle and on the ball he's very comfortable. As others have stated he's far too good for league one and if he keeps the heid and keeps working hard he'll be one that St Mirren will regret releasing.

[ayrunitedfw]

How is he going forward? I suspect Hoppy will be playing with wing backs next season. 

[Jan Vojáček]

6 minutes ago, ayrunitedfw said:

How is he going forward? I suspect Hoppy will be playing with wing backs next season. 

The defensive side of the game definitely suits him better, but he'd absolutely be a threat as a wing-back. He just runs with a lot of force, it's really unusual. I'd say he's one of the quickest players I've ever seen play for us; maybe only topped by Jai Quitongo and Derek Carcary.

 

[cameron2000]

Let’s not get carried away, McAllister was never great going forward. Defensively he was very solid, strong, a good tackler and brave. I think he will be best suited to a Centre Back role in the long-term.

[BallochSonsFan]

I wouldn't be surprised if he thrived as a ball playing centre half. He's quick, tackles well, has a reasonably good size and is positionally aware. Could definitely see him as a really good modern centre half.

[super-son]

Let’s not get carried away, McAllister was never great going forward. Defensively he was very solid, strong, a good tackler and brave. I think he will be best suited to a Centre Back role in the long-term.

What are you talking about? McAllister was fantastic going forward.

[The Moonster]

I think he's better suited to a central role too, in defensive or sitting just in front of the defence. He did well for us at right back but I think he looked more natural at centre back. Would've loved him back but agree he could easily play in the Championship.

[cameron2000]

What are you talking about? McAllister was fantastic going forward.

He’s got a good ‘engine’ don’t get me wrong but when did he provide quality balls into the box etc?

I think he was a standout performer for us but put him in an attacking team as a right back and they’d be disappointed with his end product I believe.