Another Admin Appointed

Scottishfootballnews site Administrator this evening appointed me as an Administrator, I look forward to working with Gavin and everyone else that sends their articles in.  The site will not be a success without fans from every team in Scotland contributing in some way, all articles are valued.  I would like to take the opportunity to thank Gavin for making such an open site where all the fans get involved to help out other fans looking for news that too often isn’t in the press – especially in the SFL.

Marc - Site Admin Number Two!

Dundee Return Not Dead Yet

Former Dundee fans favourite, Stevie Lovell may still return to Dens Park within the next few weeks after a deal with Falkirk broke down. Dundee offered the striker a deal a number of weeks ago and the deal looked dead but the last minute hitch has left Dundee with a little hope of catching the in demand striker. It is understood the striker is happy with the contract that Dundee offered him and has agreed terms but is still hunting for a better deal with SPL football and money the key values. Lovell moved back to the area and was looking at Falkirk being an ideal place to be playing his football next season but with that deal breaking down Lovell may snub SPL sides Kilmarnock and Hibernian to stay closer to home.

Dundee have left the offer on the table in the hope that the striker will join up for a second spell something he previously wasn’t keen on as it could risk the the good relationships with the fans from his first spell at the club. The Englishman scored twenty eight goals in seventy one starts for Dundee. The club had to sell Lovell to Aberdeen in 2005 because of the financial situation at Dens Park, Aberdeen paid £250,000 for the striker that Jimmy Calderwood branded surplus to requirements at Pittodrie. 

If Dundee do manage to sign Lovell, I would be a happy man. He has shown us what he has got in the past and I have no doubts he would turn on the style again – especially in the First Division. A right midfielder and the signing of Lovell would complete the Dundee squad – although with our current injury crisis we have to sign a central midfielder and a central defender, I wouldn’t mind if the latter signings were simply loan deals. A nice squad we’d have then – I continue to dream…

Article written by: Marc Day

Message to the readers

Well it’s now day two and I just want to thank all those who have produced articles for the site.  Please Please Please no matter who you are, if you have a view leave a comment or even drop me a email – GavinRiggs@googlemail.com – with the latest news from your club.  All work will be fully credited to you.  Again a big thank you for visiting and helping make the site a hit which is what I believe it can be.

Cheers

Gavin – Site Admin

The Seasons Come And The Players Go

 

A meaningless game at the end of a decent season for Dundee saw them draw 1-1 with champions Hamilton Accies, finishing in second place just seven points behind the Accies. As the season came to an end it was the players saying farewell to the fans with exactly half of the sixteen man squad for that final day moving on during the summer and that meant gaffer Alex Rae would have his work cut out having to re-build the squad again.

Key players Scott Robertson and Paul Dixon moved across the road to Dundee United while highly rated Kevin McDonald joined Burnley for a fee that could reach £500,000. Gavin Swankie also decided to move on and he went to First Division rivals, St Johnstone while goalkeeper Craig Samson turned down a new deal and later joined English League One side, Hereford United. With such a re-building job required, fans were making negative comments about our chances for promotion but three months on, it is time for me to see how I think Dundee will do in the season ahead.

Just days after the season ended the press were reporting that Dundee wanted to sign eleven new players before the start of the season and Dundee were given a boost in early May when Mickael Antoine-Curier and David Cowan signed three and two year deals respectively the good news was short lived however as Colin McMenamin had to undergo surgery. The surgery was a success and Colin was back fit for the start of pre-season training. Dundee were then boosted by another double signing as winger Mark Gilhaney and injury prone central midfielder Darren Young put pen to paper on two year deals.

Dundee then informed fans that the squad would be heading to Malta for a ten day training camp in which they would play one game, against Birkirkara. Before heading to Malta, Dundee completed the signings of defenders Craig McKeown and Eric Paton. After the Malta trip, Dundee signed central midfielder Eddie Mearns, a player that was tipped for the top level after coming out the Hearts youth system. Not long after, some Dundee fans were getting a little too confident after parading former Scotland internationalist, Colin Cameron to the crowd at the Aberdeen game. A long trial period ended for former Dundee United central midfielder, Jim Lauchlan as he put pen to paper on a one year deal.

The additions of Colin Cameron and Michael Antoine-Curier have been fantastic but the signing of the close season for me has to be former Celtic and Scotland goalkeeper Rab Douglas. Rab, back for a second spell has pulled off some unbelievable saves and could be the difference between being promoted and finishing short. Dundee are still looking to add to their squad and four players are currently on trial they are, Darren Williams, Chris Pozniak and former Dundee midfielder, Kiko Torres. The fourth trialist has not been named yet.

Dundee already have a long injury list with central defenders Gary MacKenzie, Craig McKeown, Jim Lauchlan all missing the first league game at Victoria Park yesterday while central midfielders Darren Young and Colin Cameron are also out injured. Cameron is set to be out for at least a month. Our injury woes don’t end yet as striker Bob Davidson is also injured. We managed to win 2 – 1 at Victoria Park yesterday so when we get our other first team players back, I am confident we can do it. I can’t deny it – every year you think “this is our year” and feel that your team is going to achieve something – usually you don’t but if Dundee can stay clear of injuries I genuinely believe we can do it. The belief was there for everyone to see yesterday and I don’t think Dundee treated the Alloa game seriously the week before. We can improve but I’m delighted with the progress made so far – we need to build on that.  At the end of August I expect Dundee to have between 12 and 15 points with the hardest game being the trip to Palmerston on August 31st. We have three points on the board now and with Clyde (H), Airdrie United (A) and Morton (H) in the next three weeks – I expect full points after four games. Forgive me if I am asking too much but that’s the way I see it.

Dundee will finish within the top two – ask me again in a few months I will tell you which position in the top two.

Article written by Marc Day.

Dundee Say No To Three Trialists – By Callum Migh

Dundee kicked-off their pre-season with a 0-0 draw in Malta.  A Czech midfielder, a Dutch striker and defender Sean Webb joined the squad.  They three didn’t get contracts. Jim Lauchlan who also in Malta was awarded with a contract.  Back home the Dark Blues won 3-0 against Montrose and Stirling. and beat Cowdenbeath 5-1. A 0-0 draw with Aberdeen kept them unbeaten until 1-0 defeats to Wolves and Bradford.

Stirling Sign Assistant Manager

Alan Moore has appointed former Queen of the South midfielder John O’Neill as his new assistant manager. O’Neill will replace Mark McNally who opted to take up a full time job with the SFA at the end of the season. O’Neill has made over 450 appearances in his career for Queens Park, Celtic, Bournemouth, Ross County, St Mirren and QOS, scoring over 100 goals on the way. The 34 year old midfielder took his final bow in front of the QOS faithful in this season’s Scottish cup final in which QOS lost 3-2 to Rangers.

Credit To Stirling Official Website

We WELL Want O’Brien

Motherwell are said to be leading the race to sign Celtic Winger Jim O’Brien.  The winger Impressed after playing all of Motherwell’s pre-season games.  The Irish Winger Also impressed Two seasons ago while on loan to Scottish First division side ( SPL at the time) Dunfermline Athletic.  Dunfermline Were also Beleived to be in the race to sign O’Brien  who rejected a new Three Year Deal with celtic after he announced that he was wanting to play first team football instead of going out on loan every season. 

Motherwell are Also interested in Seyfo Soley but did not play in Motherwell’s last Pre-Season game as the manager opted to give his back four 90 Minutes as he was not sure if Seyfo Soley would be joining.

Clyde Match Report Vs Greenock Morton By Christopher Muir

CLYDE 1 – 1 Greenock Morton
Clyde salvaged a point in the season opener courtesy of Mark Browns header four and a half minutes into injury time. It was a tightly contested affair with Morton perhaps enjoying the better possession.
 
Clyde started with in goals Hutton, a back four of Gibson, Brown, Higgins and Ohnesorge. A midfield four of Trouten, Kettlewell, McGregor and McLaren with McKay and Gemmill starting up front.
 
The home side created the first chance of the game when Scott Gemmill’s through ball was picked up by Alan Trouten only for his shot to be well saved by Colin Stewart in the Morton goal. Morton then had their first real opportunity when a corner was headed away to Jim McAllister, who’s 25 yard shot was blocked by Chris Higgins and the danger was cleared. Challenges were flying in with Mortons Walker and Neil McGregor both picking up bookings. McLaren forced another good save from Stewart and McGregor and McKay blazed shots over in a first half hour dominated by the home side. Morton came into the game a little more and took the lead five minutes before the break. A through ball was played through to Jon Newby who looked in an offside position, but the ref waved play on and despite Hutton brilliantly blocking Newby’s first effort, he kept cool and slotted the rebound home from a tight angle. 0-1. Clyde didn’t really respond but tempers flared when Brian Wakes late challenge on McGregor resulted in him picking up a booking. That was all for the first half and Morton went into the interval with a 1-0 lead at Broadwood.
 
Into the second half and Clyde changed at half time, bringing last seasons top goalscorer Pat Clarke on for the tired Scott Gemmill. There was not much else in the match until the 70th minute when Iain Russell found himself clean through only to scuff his shot by the post. He knew himself it was a great chance to clinch the 3 points to take back to Greenock. Russell also rattled a post as Morton looked to kill the game. The earlier subs of McSwegan and MacLennan for Ohnesorge and McKay were making little difference until the 85th minute when the pair combined but the latters weak shot was held by Stewart. Clarke and McGregor also headed over for the home side as a home defeat looked pretty much on the cards. There was slight hope when Clyde were awarded a corner in the 92nd minute, only for Troutens short corner to McLaren ended in the latters attempted drive across goal ended up in the side netting. However another corner was awarded in what surely had to be the last action of the game. McLarens high corner went over all the heads and Mark Brown was highest to rise at the back post and his downward header ended up in the roof of the net. A truly dramatic equaliser. 1-1.
 
So a decent affair with a draw perhaps being a fair result in the end.

Pars Captain – Disgrace Or Not ?

 

The Dunfermline crowd could not believe what they were seeing from their “Club Captain” as the Partick Thistle striker skipped past Scott Wilson on the goal line and narrowly missed scoring, an angry fan from the crowd decided to show his anger with the Dunfermline captain and shouted something along the lines of ” F**k sake Wilson get yer finger out”.   The Captain then turned to the fans and started arguing back, this prompted a furious reaction from the rest of the crowd.  Fans started to do the t**ser action and Wilson just nodded.  To make things worse, he took the Captains armband off at half time while about to walk down the tunnel.

So was this a disgraceful showing from Scott Wilson or was he simply standing up for himself?  Was taking the arm band off just simply that?  What are your views?

Dundee Vs Ross County, by Migh Dee

Dundee v Ross County – A penalty from Mickael Antoine-Curier and a header from Eric Paton gave the men from Dundee a 2-0 lead.  Dundee were without centre backs Gary McKenzie, Jim Lauchlan and Craig McKeown and midfielder Colin Cameron but still played well. The fans of Dundee filled the terrace behind the goal and some of the stand. Dundee lined up with Rab Douglas in goal. A back four of Paton, Cowan , trialist ( Danny Williams) and Eddie Malone.  Wide men were Daquin and Gilhaney with McHale and trialist (Chris Pozniak). Up front was Antoine-Curier and McMenamin.  Gilhaney was replaced by O’Brien and McMenamin was replaced by Deasley.  Goalkeeper Rab Douglas received the man of the match award.
Daal score late on.
 
Ross County 1 Dundee 2