Nicholas Rage Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 6 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said: Red dot for that? WTF is wrong with some people on here. Who'd have thought the idea of merging a long standing historic club with one that popped up out of nowhere and then as you acknowledged acted in bad faith might not be popular? Good news is the only sensible name would be eh... Bo'ness United. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pennelton Percy Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 8 hours ago, Auld Heid said: A merger makes perfect sense. At the moment it looks like one club with drive and ambition and then you have United stuck in the 80's. Big man's team are stuck in the 90s, the 1690s 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanburn Dave Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 Really enjoyed the Interview with Stuart Hunter who talks for over an hour .....................with a wife and three daughters the Bigman obviously doesn't get to talk in the hoose !!!! No "surprises" in the interview, just sticking to the basics i.e. keep your best players, improve the squad, more competition for places, etc etc. It is definitely worth a listen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jambo'ness Posted February 12 Share Posted February 12 5 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said: f**k off and learn some basic social skills. The idea that there needs to be one rather than two Bo'ness clubs for there to be the maximum chance of further progression is nothing more than basic common sense. I need social skills? I didn't resort to swearing at you. The basic common sense here is that there was one club, until a bunch of interlopers copied our strip, badge and installed themselves outwith the town of their origin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 (edited) 9 hours ago, Nicholas Rage said: Who'd have thought the idea of merging a long standing historic club with one that popped up out of nowhere and then as you acknowledged acted in bad faith might not be popular? Good news is the only sensible name would be eh... Bo'ness United. Perhaps worth bearing in mind that my comments were prefaced with, "Suspect it's impossible because of what's unfolded over the last few years and if so this definitely isn't a criticism...". As things stand I suspect the club is more or less at the glass celing of what can be achieved without some major changes to how it operates that would provide a cash injection to upgrade the ground and fund a promotion push on the park. Kelty reached League One by being willing to tell Tom Johnston to get lost, first join a very unappealing looking EoS and by finding a way to have someone pump money into their club without winding up like Gretna in terms of handing over the keys to the guy on an ego trip. None of that was easy to do. Bo'ness United initially rejected the move to the EoS the following season and lost its club secretary over that, only did a U-turn at the very last minute and have had "the parasites" emerge subsequent to that. No easy answers on how to emulate what Kelty did but seems to me removing the unwelcome lodgers from the equation would be a necessary step towards getting there. If it is what it is and this season is close to as good as it gets there's nothing hugely bad about that outcome. Edited February 13 by LongTimeLurker 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholas Rage Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 1 hour ago, LongTimeLurker said: Kelty reached League One by being willing to tell Tom Johnston to get lost, first join a very unappealing looking EoS and by finding a way to have someone pump money into their club without winding up like Gretna in terms of handing over the keys to the guy on an ego trip. None of that was easy to do. No easy answers on how to emulate what Kelty did but seems to me removing the unwelcome lodgers from the equation would be a necessary step towards getting there. If it is what it is and this season is close to as good as it gets there's nothing hugely bad about that outcome. It might just be me but I don't see what's particularly appealing about the Kelty story? Moneymen took them up, the moneymen have now gone away and they're likely starting a steady decline back down. I have no problem with Bo'ness being what it is, a big Lowland League club that with a bit of luck might make it into League 2. There's very few (any?) examples of guys pouring cash into clubs that have ended well in Scotland. There's no shame in hitting a glass ceiling as a football club, every team has one, rather they should be proud to be punching at the top of their weight. Selling out for some short term unsustainable success shouldn't be viewed as a positive. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PossilYM Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 19 minutes ago, Nicholas Rage said: It might just be me but I don't see what's particularly appealing about the Kelty story? Moneymen took them up, the moneymen have now gone away and they're likely starting a steady decline back down. I have no problem with Bo'ness being what it is, a big Lowland League club that with a bit of luck might make it into League 2. There's very few (any?) examples of guys pouring cash into clubs that have ended well in Scotland. There's no shame in hitting a glass ceiling as a football club, every team has one, rather they should be proud to be punching at the top of their weight. Selling out for some short term unsustainable success shouldn't be viewed as a positive. Only one guy made serious big bucks out of Scottish football and walked away into the sunset. Fergus McCann Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-U-tiful United Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 7 hours ago, Nicholas Rage said: It might just be me but I don't see what's particularly appealing about the Kelty story? Moneymen took them up, the moneymen have now gone away and they're likely starting a steady decline back down. I have no problem with Bo'ness being what it is, a big Lowland League club that with a bit of luck might make it into League 2. There's very few (any?) examples of guys pouring cash into clubs that have ended well in Scotland. There's no shame in hitting a glass ceiling as a football club, every team has one, rather they should be proud to be punching at the top of their weight. Selling out for some short term unsustainable success shouldn't be viewed as a positive. Agreed, I’d rather we were doing well in Lowland, getting a bigger crowd, decent visiting support as more former EoS teams join, travelling to Linlithgow, Broxburn and Tranent rather than Peterhead, Stranraer and Forfar 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boheesian Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 10 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said: Perhaps worth bearing in mind that my comments were prefaced with, "Suspect it's impossible because of what's unfolded over the last few years and if so this definitely isn't a criticism...". As things stand I suspect the club is more or less at the glass celing of what can be achieved without some major changes to how it operates that would provide a cash injection to upgrade the ground and fund a promotion push on the park. Kelty reached League One by being willing to tell Tom Johnston to get lost, first join a very unappealing looking EoS and by finding a way to have someone pump money into their club without winding up like Gretna in terms of handing over the keys to the guy on an ego trip. None of that was easy to do. Bo'ness United initially rejected the move to the EoS the following season and lost its club secretary over that, only did a U-turn at the very last minute and have had "the parasites" emerge subsequent to that. No easy answers on how to emulate what Kelty did but seems to me removing the unwelcome lodgers from the equation would be a necessary step towards getting there. If it is what it is and this season is close to as good as it gets there's nothing hugely bad about that outcome. Upgrading is the responsibility of the NPA and its income source is the money generated from all the local clubs who use the facilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithgierose Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 45 minutes ago, boheesian said: Upgrading is the responsibility of the NPA and its income source is the money generated from all the local clubs who use the facilities. NPA responsible for terracing repairs ? -1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanburn Dave Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 48 minutes ago, lithgierose said: NPA responsible for terracing repairs ? 100% correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue 8 Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Why has the subject of a merger has raised it's head are we not doing better than the last couple of season 2defeat playing on full size parks if you listen to hunts pod cast i don't think hunts is worry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 2 minutes ago, blue 8 said: Why has the subject of a merger has raised it's head are we not doing better than the last couple of season 2defeat playing on full size parks if you listen to hunts pod cast i don't think hunts is worry Was only mentioned because the topic of how extra money could be found in an EK or Tranent sort of way to try to take the next step and move into the SPFL came up. What appears to have been missed in certain responses was that the message in question started with "Suspect it's impossible because of what's unfolded over the last few years...". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanburn Dave Posted February 13 Author Share Posted February 13 I am happy seeing the BU's making gradual progress in the LL. Our "level" is top half of the LL. That is good enough for me and I would think most BU fans share that view. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicholas Rage Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 1 hour ago, LongTimeLurker said: Was only mentioned because the topic of how extra money could be found in an EK or Tranent sort of way to try to take the next step and move into the SPFL came up. What appears to have been missed in certain responses was that the message in question started with "Suspect it's impossible because of what's unfolded over the last few years...". I didn't miss it, I just think it's daft regardless to think a merger is the next obvious step when the club will be pushing to win the Lowland League regardless next year. The club is big enough to push for that without mystery money that'll disappear in a few years. -1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliewheelen Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 On 12/02/2024 at 16:32, John S said: Just listened to the podcast. Great interview. Well done You're very kind mate, I appreciate that a lot, especially in the early stages. Got some more exciting chats coming up that I hope you'll enjoy as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliewheelen Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 On 12/02/2024 at 21:54, Deanburn Dave said: Really enjoyed the Interview with Stuart Hunter who talks for over an hour .....................with a wife and three daughters the Bigman obviously doesn't get to talk in the hoose !!!! No "surprises" in the interview, just sticking to the basics i.e. keep your best players, improve the squad, more competition for places, etc etc. It is definitely worth a listen. Glad you enjoyed it mate. Had a great time talking to Stuart and learning the ins and outs of your club! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 (edited) 10 hours ago, Nicholas Rage said: I didn't miss it, I just think it's daft regardless to think a merger is the next obvious step when the club will be pushing to win the Lowland League regardless next year. The club is big enough to push for that without mystery money that'll disappear in a few years. With the best will in the world there's not much chance to overcome a club like EK when they have that type of mystery money behind them courtesy of Jim Kean and a revolving door in terms of constantly replenishing the quality of their squad every time they drop points. Not impossible but highly unlikely. Next season might be a window of opportunity if they go up but there's still Tranent spending big as well and lots of other clubs that can reasonably fancy their chances. More chance in other words but still a long shot, especially when the playoffs are factored in. All I pointed out was the blindingly obvious as to how a similar cash injection could potentially be sourced in a Bo'ness context. If the club don't want to go down that road as my message made abundantly clear I was already aware is likely to be the case and don't have a problem with, then fans need to temper their expectations and enjoy what's happening at the moment. As others have pointed out the club has probably found its level now. Close but no cigar at the top end of the LL at least until top WoS clubs start entering the picture in LL terms which might mean something closer to midtable. Looking a few years down the road there could be a Bo'ness derby in LL terms and two clubs at Newtown Park entering the Scottish Cup. Hope the mystery money has dried up by then and they go the way of Ballingry Rovers, but the worst case scenario would be they hang around long enough to buy a significant level of success on the park and start to build a following among the younger generation and permanently split the available resources in Bo'ness to support a part-time professional club. Edited February 14 by LongTimeLurker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwullieac Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 6 hours ago, LongTimeLurker said: With the best will in the world there's not much chance to overcome a club like EK when they have that type of mystery money behind them courtesy of Jim Kean and a revolving door in terms of constantly replenishing the quality of their squad every time they drop points. Not impossible but highly unlikely. Next season might be a window of opportunity if they go up but there's still Tranent spending big as well and lots of other clubs that can reasonably fancy their chances. More chance in other words but still a long shot, especially when the playoffs are factored in. All I pointed out was the blindingly obvious as to how a similar cash injection could potentially be sourced in a Bo'ness context. If the club don't want to go down that road as my message made abundantly clear I was already aware is likely to be the case and don't have a problem with, then fans need to temper their expectations and enjoy what's happening at the moment. As others have pointed out the club has probably found its level now. Close but no cigar at the top end of the LL at least until top WoS clubs start entering the picture in LL terms which might mean something closer to midtable. Looking a few years down the road there could be a Bo'ness derby in LL terms and two clubs at Newtown Park entering the Scottish Cup. Hope the mystery money has dried up by then and they go the way of Ballingry Rovers, but the worst case scenario would be they hang around long enough to buy a significant level of success on the park and start to build a following among the younger generation and permanently split the available resources in Bo'ness to support a part-time professional club. Have you been reading this thread? Being in 3rd at this point of the season was never expected considering the circumstances that Hunts came in and absolutely no one thinks we should be doing better. The basically unanimous view is that we're a large non-league team who in a more financially balanced situation MIGHT be able to challenge for the league, nothing more. You're merger idea was a stupid thing to bring up when no one wants it, and you've continued digging that hole while fighting shadows. I dont think theres anyone in this thread or the club in general who is upset at how this season has gone or who has outsized expectations like you're trying to suggest here. If the parasites money man had been finding success amongst the younger generation of Bo'nessians then they wouldnt be turning up to see the BU and the parasites support would be much larger by now, that has not happened and our dip in support has everything to do with the negative football on display for an extended period before the new management came in, it will take time to rebuild that support, but with the exciting football of this season and a total overperformance, hopefully we will see that happen. The only people who seem to think that the parasites are anything more than an ego trip with some hangers on is you and the town idiot of Linlithgow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongTimeLurker Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 What on earth are you even on about? At no point did I advocate a merger. Did you not read this part of my post, "Suspect it's impossible because of what's unfolded over the last few years and if so this definitely isn't a criticism..."? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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