Sons' sorrow

[The Moonster]

I'm starting to fear the dressing room has been lost. Maybe we can't read too much into Mark Brown or his Mrs' tweets but it's clear that all is not well. A Meet the Manager would be quite interesting right now...

[Boghead ranter]

4 hours ago, The Moonster said:

I'm starting to fear the dressing room has been lost. Maybe we can't read too much into Mark Brown or his Mrs' tweets but it's clear that all is not well. A Meet the Manager would be quite interesting right now...

If true ( if ), maybe they're fed up being played in whatever position is decided by where the dart lands in Stevie's dartboard.

[Jan Vojáček]

The suggestion was that we are back up at toryglen on the wee section of park we used to get before aitken came in.

Doesn't help us at all. (If true)

I heard that at the Bankies game as well, my hope was that it was a temporary thing to recover after a long tough cup run.

Brown leaving will free up a good chunk of the budget I'd imagine, but I don't think he's been treated well by Stevie and, whilst poor a lot of the time, it wouldn't take much to treat him properly. The concern is also that the players also don't feel he's been treated well - the start of a slippery slope for Aitken.

Sparky has unliked the tweet, and I'd be disappointed if he has taken being benched that badly. Poor show from Mrs Brown however (not the first time I've said that!) No need for her to post something like that.

[Sons FC]

4 hours ago, The Moonster said:

I'm starting to fear the dressing room has been lost. Maybe we can't read too much into Mark Brown or his Mrs' tweets but it's clear that all is not well. A Meet the Manager would be quite interesting right now...

How does one player who is not good enough to play at this level being rightly dropped turn into losing the dressing room?

Get a grip people.

[Jan Vojáček]

9 hours ago, Trump said:

How's Smith playing for your lot?

I like him, he's a hard worker and good at driving play forward. His crossing is hit or miss, but he does look to be better than Kevin Cawley who took so many touches on the ball last season he only managed to hit in about 3 crosses all year! He won the penalty yesterday and, even at 4-1, didn't stop trying to create things, so that's quite endearing. 

His main weaknesses is that he isn't the most intelligent off the ball. He'll regularly walk out of position, jog back to the wrong spot or just take up another role in the middle of the park and leave his full-back exposed. Especially after putting a cross in where he will take his time to get back into somewhere near his position.

[BallochSonsFan]

I'm also not sure how Brown has been treated poorly?

Reputed to be a big earner. No better than Ewings. Why wouldn't we look to move him on?

Fans can afford to be sentimental. Part time teams cant. If he's fit but not in the gaffers plans (the gaffer who signed him) then the sad reality is that the money is needed elsewhere.

[Jan Vojáček]

Just now, BallochSonsFan said:

I'm also not sure how Brown has been treated poorly?

Reputed to be a big earner. No better than Ewings. Why wouldn't we look to move him on?

Fans can afford to be sentimental. Part time teams cant. If he's fit but not in the gaffers plans (the gaffer who signed him) then the sad reality is that the money is needed elsewhere.

I don't know either, but for an experienced player who will be more than used to being dropped throughout his career, it's a strange outburst to have. That's what's concerning me. The thing I also don't get is the budget chat, Brown wasn't great - I don't think anyone could deny that - but if the budget was stretched beyond belief then we needed to stick with him. Conceivably he could be on better money than Aldo I suppose, but my (completely stabbed in the dark guess) is that Martin came in on less money and as a result Stevie has to try and punt Brown without paying him off. Not an easy task for Aitken at all, but perhaps the way he's gone about it has upset him.

I don't know, and I'd be surprised if we ever knew the ins and outs of it. But between this, the Todd deal and the bizarre Osei-Obengo deal in winter it's been a weird ol' year.

[O'Kelly Isley III]

4 hours ago, The Moonster said:

I'm starting to fear the dressing room has been lost. Maybe we can't read too much into Mark Brown or his Mrs' tweets but it's clear that all is not well. A Meet the Manager would be quite interesting right now...

Mark Brown breaking cover is perhaps a sign that all is indeed not well right now in the playing staff.  As regards the guy himself, I'd seen enough last season to wave him off but the Manager awarded him a 2-year deal, so it could get a bit messy.

Another aspect which fans rarely consider is the relationship between the team management and the club Board/Chairman.  The budget was overspent last season and although it would follow that would have an impact on team-building I'm wondering if there has recently been some brinkmanship over the squad size and content following the League Cup debacle.

If so, that added to the Raith Rovers Manager's vacancy nonsense would hardly be conducive to harmony; Ian Murray's relationship with the Board eventually disintegrated and (based only on my own reading) I'd not be at all surprised if there are currently tensions in the camp.

[Sons FC]

Stevie can't seem to win here. Either he is being criticised for keeping Brown or he is being criticised for dropping him.

He has recognised the problem, moved to resolve it and he will look to move on a player who is no longer in his plans.

That's football it happens all time.

Well done Stevie for sorting out a problem position.

[Jan Vojáček]

Just now, Sons FC said:

Stevie can't seem to win here. Either he is being criticised for keeping Brown or he is being criticised for dropping him.

He has recognised the problem, moved to resolve it and he will look to move on a player who is no longer in his plans.

That's football it happens all time.

Well done Stevie for sorting out a problem position.

He may have acted, but it doesn't mean he's done it in the right way. That's what I'm saying. Players tend to be close to each other and if Brown's been treated badly then I wouldn't be shocked to see a few players lose some respect for the manager. He's also still under (by all accounts a very decent) contract until next May and so if he can't find a new club then we could be left with a goalkeeper sat in the stands (or more realistically at home) who we are paying good money for. He's well within his rights to refuse a mutual termination and, given our apparent lack of budget, I can't see us coming to much of a financial settlement. 

A manager falling out with his staff (which is effectively what's happened here) is not a good sign in any business.

Unless it happens to be Lee Mair, and he isn't under contract for the next 8 months and he was utterly hopeless...in which case it's fine!

[cameron2000]

Mark Brown followed TNS recently and he hadn't yesterday

[Nowhereman]

56 minutes ago, Sonsteam of 08 said:

He may have acted, but it doesn't mean he's done it in the right way. That's what I'm saying. Players tend to be close to each other and if Brown's been treated badly then I wouldn't be shocked to see a few players lose some respect for the manager. He's also still under (by all accounts a very decent) contract until next May and so if he can't find a new club then we could be left with a goalkeeper sat in the stands (or more realistically at home) who we are paying good money for. He's well within his rights to refuse a mutual termination and, given our apparent lack of budget, I can't see us coming to much of a financial settlement. 

A manager falling out with his staff (which is effectively what's happened here) is not a good sign in any business.

Unless it happens to be Lee Mair, and he isn't under contract for the next 8 months and he was utterly hopeless...in which case it's fine!

What exactly do you mean by 'the right way'  Brown is as poor a keeper as I've seen at DFC in a long time. Bringing in someone new is long overdue and if that means Brown takes the huff then so be it. I daresay if Grant Gallagher didnt even get a place on the bench you'd be quite happy

[Jan Vojáček]

Just now, Nowhereman said:

What exactly do you mean by 'the right way'  Brown is as poor a keeper as I've seen at DFC in a long time. Bringing in someone new is long overdue and if that means Brown takes the huff then so be it. I daresay if Grant Gallagher didnt even get a place on the bench you'd be quite happy

Gallagher is irrelevant both in terms of footballing ability and this conversation. Would I be happy if we punted him? Yes. Would I be happy if he left on bad terms as a result of poor management? No. It's not good for team spirit and it's not good for our club's reputation when we're trying to attract players. 

I've no idea how Stevie has gone about dealing with the Brown situation, so this could well be how he's done it. The right way? I don't know Brown, and I don't know how he works but I'd think something along the lines of "Look Mark you know the budget is stretched and I don't feel as if you are justifying your wage. It's not personal and I've enjoyed working with you but I think you'd agree the move hasn't worked out as any of us would've wished and you're free to leave whenever you like. We can't offer you a payoff beyond XY weeks wages, and I hope you understand this. It's not fair on me to keep you here on the bench when you need to be playing regular football at this stage in your career"

That could well have been what Stevie said. In which case it is a blatant case of Broon taking it badly, but for such an experienced player to start posting stuff on Twitter about the team going in the wrong direction I'm not convinced it's been handled well.

Sparky liking and then unliking the Tweet also says to me that all is not what it seems - of course I could be totally wrong although, as I've said previously, much of what I'm saying is guesswork.

It reminds me a bit of the Andy Graham situation last year. Andy was a vastly experienced player - let's be fair here he was a model pro for us - but seemed to leave on bad terms, after being poorly man managed. 

This year, with a small squad in a tough league, more than any other season we need the players and manager to all believe in each other and be 'singing from the same hymn sheet'. Early signs certainly aren't promising that that's the case. The endless grumbling in the press from Aitken about the budget, the application for the Raith job, the woeful BetFred Cup run, the lack of organisation yesterday and now a player sending cryptic tweets. It's certainly not been the start of the season we'd have hoped for.

[Nowhereman]

7 minutes ago, Sonsteam of 08 said:

Gallagher is irrelevant both in terms of footballing ability and this conversation. Would I be happy if we punted him? Yes. Would I be happy if he left on bad terms as a result of poor management? No. It's not good for team spirit and it's not good for our club's reputation when we're trying to attract players. 

I've no idea how Stevie has gone about dealing with the Brown situation, so this could well be how he's done it. The right way? I don't know Brown, and I don't know how he works but I'd think something along the lines of "Look Mark you know the budget is stretched and I don't feel as if you are justifying your wage. It's not personal and I've enjoyed working with you but I think you'd agree the move hasn't worked out as any of us would've wished and you're free to leave whenever you like. We can't offer you a payoff beyond XY weeks wages, and I hope you understand this. It's not fair on me to keep you here on the bench when you need to be playing regular football at this stage in your career"

That could well have been what Stevie said. In which case it is a blatant case of Broon taking it badly, but for such an experienced player to start posting stuff on Twitter about the team going in the wrong direction I'm not convinced it's been handled well.

Sparky liking and then unliking the Tweet also says to me that all is not what it seems - of course I could be totally wrong although, as I've said previously, much of what I'm saying is guesswork.

It reminds me a bit of the Andy Graham situation last year. Andy was a vastly experienced player - let's be fair here he was a model pro for us - but seemed to leave on bad terms, after being poorly man managed. 

This year, with a small squad in a tough league, more than any other season we need the players and manager to all believe in each other and be 'singing from the same hymn sheet'. Early signs certainly aren't promising that that's the case. The endless grumbling in the press from Aitken about the budget, the application for the Raith job, the woeful BetFred Cup run, the lack of organisation yesterday and now a player sending cryptic tweets. It's certainly not been the start of the season we'd have hoped for.

Don't disagree with much of what you've said there but I'm not sure why you assume that it's not been handled well just because of something that's been posted on twitter. It's easy to stick something on to twitter without thinking about it. And no matter how it's been handled to put something like that up on twitter says much more about Brown than Aitken

[smpar]

Is that Brown and his missus spitting the dummy out on social media?

It always ends well when players' families and partners take to social media. Always.

[Thommo90]

I heard that at the Bankies game as well, my hope was that it was a temporary thing to recover after a long tough cup run.

Brown leaving will free up a good chunk of the budget I'd imagine, but I don't think he's been treated well by Stevie and, whilst poor a lot of the time, it wouldn't take much to treat him properly. The concern is also that the players also don't feel he's been treated well - the start of a slippery slope for Aitken.

Sparky has unliked the tweet, and I'd be disappointed if he has taken being benched that badly. Poor show from Mrs Brown however (not the first time I've said that!) No need for her to post something like that.

We are already at a major disadvantage but if we are only training one night a week on a wee shite bit of pitch we can forget staying in this league.

[The Moonster]

2 hours ago, Sons FC said:

How does one player who is not good enough to play at this level being rightly dropped turn into losing the dressing room?

Get a grip people.

It's not just that though is it? You can't watch our performances and think the team are following instruction. Yesterday after every goal everyone was standing pointing at each other, wondering what's going on. When this stuff comes out as well then I'm afraid the signs aren't good.

[son of a bankie]

I was shocked at sparky not playing yesterday from the start. He would be first on the team sheet for me. Always 100% effort and vocally, just what we need week in and out.
I hoped he wasn't fit enough to play for 90 minutes. Extremely unhappy bankie going to join Mrs Browns Boys.

[Rockstar]

Mostly negatives from yesterday's performance but some positives. I will start with the positives. Big Thomson up front put in a decent shift we just need someone feeding off him as he holds the ball up well at times. The kid from Celtic looks decent so too does our new keeper.

Negatives: our full backs are a major weak link especially as our centre halfs are slower than a week in jail. Pettigrew is rank, gives the ball away constantly and I don't think he knows what to do (I think there are a few in this category mind you). The kid from Aberdeen looked like a rabbit caught in headlights yesterday. Why do we still not have a defensive midfielder? I know Barr will probably play there but we need more than one. Every single Sons fan can see that Stevenson isn't suited for that role (or Fleming)- he needs to be higher up the pitch. Not convinced with Smith, reminds me of Chris Hamilton- bit of a headless chicken. He has great pace but crossing is hit or miss and defensively he is all over the place. 

If I had my way I would punt a few players: Brown (2 year contract is a joke), Doherty (lack of pace, decision making is poor), Gallagher (not good enough for this level). Pettigrew is another one who ain't up to it for this level of football. I would have kept Taggart. 

We look ok going forward but maybe Stevie has forgotten to do  defensive drills of any kind! 

 

 

 

[the snudge]

12 hours ago, Thommo90 said:

Can we read anything from this? *noticed sparky liked it*

I read that he's a fucking wage thief and should do the right thing and piss off.