Sons' sorrow

[PossilYM]

Wish Dumbarton every success going forward with the Broomhill groundsharing.

See Maryhill Juniors for details.

[DFCTTFM]

15 minutes ago, 1320Lichtie said:

If you mean Blair Malcolm surely he will play middle of the park?

Pretty sure he played quite a few games at left back for albion, not sure if it was maybe due to injuries etc but he seemed to have slotted in there with no problem

[The Moonster]

James Hilton signs. Is he not a right midfielder? 

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

Hilton can operate in a few positions in attack, not sure where he mostly played for Stranraer last season but 7 goals isn’t a bad return. 

[Thommo90]

6 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

Hilton can operate in a few positions in attack, not sure where he mostly played for Stranraer last season but 7 goals isn’t a bad return. 

Looks to have played 20 games as a striker last year.

[TxRover]

57 minutes ago, DFCTTFM said:

Greig Young joins from Raith Rovers. By the initial reaction it looks like raith fans wanted to keep him. Makes me wonder though, will he be a starter or will he be on the bench? We have malcolm who can play at left back too, unless of course stevie plays him in midfield and we start Young. Seems like a decent option to have though!

51 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

I think Greig Young is a really good signing. A highly rated young full back who had a successful loan spell at this level in the first half of last season. Some decent business been done so far IMO. 

Seems quite a decent young lad, but never got a chance to break into the first team, and as noted we have no reserve squad. Went to Elgin, and promptly had another LB show up on loan with them, so he tended to see alternate game starts. From what little we had seen of him, I’m shocked we let him go, and disappointed we gave him no real opportunity to try to grab a role at the club. McGlynn seemed to rate him much higher than Murray, so that probably played a role in the decision. I think, personally, he could have made a League One team a good squad player, if not a starter…so you might have gotten a quite good player there, but you never really know until he gets a run of play.

Best example of this would be Coulson at Alloa, we let him out of his contract because he wasn’t playing and he promptly signed for Alloa and made a decent impact. I think Murray probably decided with Dick staying, he felt better with a FB behind him he chose and elected to let Grieg go. Hope he smashes it with you.

[The Moonster]

New deal for Orsi up next.

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

6 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

New deal for Orsi up next.

Another solid piece of business. He definitely blows hot and cold, like most lower league wingers, but on his day he’s as good as you’ll get at this level. My only criticism is that he needs to start adding some more goals and assists to his game and I’m still a bit annoyed about his daft red card at Annan. 

[squeezebox-son]

If Orsi signs on too then that's some more, fairly impressive, astute business from Farrell. Really would be nice if he turned into a better manager over this summer to go with it.

I've said it before, but  he clearly talks a good game and the players must enjoy working with him to sign on etc.

[The Moonster]

4 minutes ago, squeezebox-son said:

If Orsi signs on too then that's some more, fairly impressive, astute business from Farrell. Really would be nice if he turned into a better manager over this summer to go with it.

I've said it before, but  he clearly talks a good game and the players must enjoy working with him to sign on etc.

As much as he does seem likeable and a decent guy to work under, the last two years we have apparently had dressing room issues. The year we were relegated he said he got the mix wrong, then last year we collapsed again with rumours of even senior players being a problem in the dressing room. Perhaps it'll be third time lucky but I need to keep reminding myself that we've been here before with Farrell and not let what does seem like good business excite me too much. 

[Sons fan 1872]

43 minutes ago, squeezebox-son said:

If Orsi signs on too then that's some more, fairly impressive, astute business from Farrell. Really would be nice if he turned into a better manager over this summer to go with it.

I've said it before, but  he clearly talks a good game and the players must enjoy working with him to sign on etc.

Also must like the way he plays football? 

[EdinburghBlue]

1 hour ago, Thommo90 said:

Looks to have played 20 games as a striker last year.

He’ll score the occasional spectacular goal for you, but you will lose a lot of balls into the river. 

[squeezebox-son]

7 minutes ago, Sons fan 1872 said:

Also must like the way he plays football? 

I mean, that may be a step too far but they clearly buy into his philosophy and the game he talks.

[Jan Vojáček]

7 minutes ago, EdinburghBlue said:

He’ll score the occasional spectacular goal for you, but you will lose a lot of balls into the river. 

To be honest I don't mind that. We've not really had many players who just shoot since Dom Thomas left (as evidenced by us having the lowest number of shots in the division last year). And I felt we were screaming out for someone to just try their luck in games.

I've always liked Hilton as a player and I'm pleased he's on board. Young looks like he could be a bit of a gem with the right coaching and folk around him, and Kalvin Orsi is great entertainment. He assured me that he will score this season too. So that's an added bonus.

[The Moonster]

Sean Crighton next in the door.

[Francesc Fabregas]

11 minutes ago, The Moonster said:

Sean Crighton next in the door.

Hmm. It seems like Dumbarton and Stenhousemuir have just done a straight swap for their centre-backs! I liked Sean Crighton - he's a good ambassador, he's likely to be made your new captain, he really looks the part, he's a handsome big laddie and he's a smashing guy - but his time at Ochilview was probably a failure, all things considered. Sure, he can header the ball all day long and is good for about five or six goals a season but for someone of his supposed pedigree (and wage - we had apparently gazumped Kelty Hearts to sign him back in 2021), I expected a lot better. He's prone to losing concentration at the worst possible moments and he's capable of the odd howler. He's also a terrible passer and there was nothing more dispiriting than watching him amble of out defence and shelling the ball straight out of play. I actually think you might have downgraded a little from Gregor Buchanan to Crighton. I don't think we got value for money or ever really saw him at his best.

Crighton wasn't a player I was keen on keeping on and I think the change of scenery will do both him and Stenhousemuir good. He's a top boy and I hope he can do you a decent turn. A lot of Dumbarton fans on social media are commenting saying this is a "great signing" but I'd be a bit more cautious about it.

Edited June 7, 2023 by Francesc Fabregas

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

30 minutes ago, Francesc Fabregas said:

Hmm. It seems like Dumbarton and Stenhousemuir have just done a straight swap for their centre-backs! I liked Sean Crighton - he's a good ambassador, he's likely to be made your new captain, he really looks the part, he's a handsome big laddie and he's a smashing guy - but his time at Ochilview was probably a failure, all things considered. Sure, he can header the ball all day long and is good for about five or six goals a season but for someone of his supposed pedigree (and wage - we had apparently gazumped Kelty Hearts to sign him back in 2021), I expected a lot better. He's prone to losing concentration at the worst possible moments and he's capable of the odd howler. He's also a terrible passer and there was nothing more dispiriting than watching him amble of out defence and shelling the ball straight out of play. I actually think you might have downgraded a little from Gregor Buchanan to Crighton. I don't think we got value for money or ever really saw him at his best.

Crighton wasn't a player I was keen on keeping on and I think the change of scenery will do both him and Stenhousemuir good. He's a top boy and I hope he can do you a decent turn. A lot of Dumbarton fans on social media are commenting saying this is a "great signing" but I'd be a bit more cautious about it.

Crighton isn’t one I’m particularly bowled over with tbh and when I heard we were signing him my first thoughts were “I’m not sure about that one”.

I’d be slightly more concerned if we hadn’t brought in Mark Durnan who I’d consider our Buchanan replacement. I wasn’t a huge fan of big Peter Grant and I’m hoping Crighton will be an upgrade on him. I think on paper I prefer the Durnan and Crighton partnership to the Buchanan and Grant one but time will tell I suppose.

Regarding the ambling out of defence and shelling the ball - it sounds like we may have swapped like for like players in that regard.

[The Moonster]

27 minutes ago, Francesc Fabregas said:

Hmm. It seems like Dumbarton and Stenhousemuir have just done a straight swap for their centre-backs! I liked Sean Crighton - he's a good ambassador, he's likely to be made your new captain, he really looks the part, he's a handsome big laddie and he's a smashing guy - but his time at Ochilview was probably a failure, all things considered. Sure, he can header the ball all day long and is good for about five or six goals a season but for someone of his supposed pedigree (and wage - we had apparently gazumped Kelty Hearts to sign him back in 2021), I expected a lot better. He's prone to losing concentration at the worst possible moments and he's capable of the odd howler. He's also a terrible passer and there was nothing more dispiriting than watching him amble of out defence and shelling the ball straight out of play. I actually think you might have downgraded a little from Gregor Buchanan to Crighton. I don't think we got value for money or ever really saw him at his best.

Crighton wasn't a player I was keen on keeping on and I think the change of scenery will do both him and Stenhousemuir good. He's a top boy and I hope he can do you a decent turn. A lot of Dumbarton fans on social media are commenting saying this is a "great signing" but I'd be a bit more cautious about it.

To be honest, you could probably rewrite much of that paragraph for Buchanan. I don't think theres much between the players, Buchanan struggled to make a partnership with anyone other than Stuart Carswell, and even that partnership went sour eventually. I'd say Durnan is a step up on Carswell at the back, Pignatiello is a huge step up on Lynas and Young appears to come rated highly and potentially a better option than McNiff. Hopefully Crighton can slot in next to Durnan and form a decent partnership. 

[Am Featha Taigh Nan Clach]

Crighton is a decent meat and potatoes defender. The main reason most fans were happy to see him go was that he was reputedly on a very high wage for his position the overall wagebill while turning in nothing more than average performances.

A nice guy and excellent professional. I wish him well 

[Jan Vojáček]

I get the feeling that Crighton isn't as good a player as Buchanan, but is more of a leader/captain. On our porridge of a park that scrapping, meat and potatoes quality might suit us more. Whilst Stenny's velvety astro could work well for Bucky.

Who knows? But Mark Durnan and Sean Crighton looks like a fairly capable League Two centre-half pairing to me. Especially considering how many God awful options we tried there in League One a couple of years back.