Scottish 1-2-3 Close Season News & Link Dump

[kompressaur]

With the start of the new season fast approaching Rovers manager John McGlynn has pulled off a major signing with former Dunfermline striker Andy Tod joining the club on a one year contract despite strong competition from a number of other Clubs for his signature........

Andy first joined Dunfermline in December 1993 when Bert Paton signed him from Kelty Hearts and he made 264 appearances and scored 38 goals before being loaned to Stockport County in October 2000, returning to East End Park in January 2001.

He started the following season on loan to Bradford City and the then Premiership side agreed to sign him for a six figure fee, but that move went sour when City boss Jim Jefferies was axed, and Tod then had loan spells at Hearts and Dundee United before returning once again to Dunfermline where his eye for goal earned him the top goalscorer title for season 2004-2005

Andy made his 300th league appearance for the Pars in November 2005 and was released at the end of last season, his testimonial year.

Speaking at today’s signing Andy Tod said “ I am pleased to join Raith Rovers and whilst I could have gone to other Clubs I am a Fifer at heart and I'm looking forward to supporting the Club’s aim for promotion. “

Raith Rovers FC | Official Site

That sounds promising Danq. Looks like he could do a job in Div 2 still.

East Stirling have got a goalie with something to prove too possibly.

Hill has chance to shine at Shire
Former Falkirk goalkeeper Darren Hill has signed a one-year contract with Third Division East Stirlingshire.

The 24-year-old, who made nearly 50 appearances for the Bairns, has been out of football since 2006 following an admission of drug taking.

But Hill, who signed for Falkirk as a schoolboy, is keen to get involved in the game again.

"I am glad I have the opportunity and really want to start looking forward to enjoying football again," he said.

"To be honest, I was expecting the negative comments from people right from day one after it happened.

"But it's up to me now to prove to people that I can come back.

"I have the backing of my family and friends and now all I want to do is look forward rather than back.

"This is a shop window for me, but I would also like to do well for Shire and help them get higher up the league."

Shire manager Gordon Wylde was full of praise for his new signing's attitude.

"I know at least four clubs that were keen to sign Darren," he told the Shire website.

"There will be some who say I am taking a big risk, but everyone I spoke to said he was a real talent.

"His attitude with us has been first class and I have told him I want him to be my number one keeper.

"He has aspirations to go further in the game, but he will only do that if he stays on the straight and narrow.

"But he is out to prove a point and, on that basis, I am prepared to welcome him on board."

[kompressaur]

Raith Rovers signings-

Graham Weir worked with John McGlynn at Hearts, and the manager feels he is a very smart striker who makes very intelligent runs and finds space in a defence, and the 23 year old can get back to the top with hard work and scoring goals.

Keiran Renton signed from Elgin City, where he was first choice goalkeeper for the last 3 seasons and the 23 year olds experience playing in a very competitive league will stand him in good stead for the rest of his career which began at Blackburn Rovers where he served a great apprenticeship with the best of facilities and coaching, and with a hunger for success and ambitions to play at the highest level, manager John McGlynn feels that he has signed Keiran at the right time.

Former Dumbarton winger Ryan Borris is a player that John McGlynn had an eye on since the Rovers played Dumbarton last December, and the manager feels that he will add quality to the team in a position that needed improving.

Robert Sloan joined last month from Alloa and played for the Wasps in all four games against the Rovers last season including the match last April when he scored the second of Alloa’s goals in a 3-2 defeat to the Rovers at Recreation Park. Robert has a great left foot but is also comfortable switching over to the right and John McGlynn feels that the former Hearts man will be very useful up front as he has a good football brain

Raith Rovers FC | Official Site

[Danq]

wheres milners edin , bit of info ?

[kompressaur]

nooooooooooooooooooo Ayr have got Alex Williams. I hate even the sight of this fella



aye he was ok for Armadale in the Western Premier league in Australia state league football 2 seasons ago but i dont think he's scored since coming bck to scotland. Surely the goals that their talking about here werent last season?
Ayr United Football Club - Official Website

ah i see
BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Ayr United | Ayr take freed striker Williams

i dont see that as a particualry encouraging signing for Ayr. If him and Moore can gel then yes it could be good but if alex aint getting a game etc i think it will cause more bother than its worth. I cant see the Ayr fans being happy about that one. i used to support ayr as a kid and i aint. I even quite like Alex Williams when he's on song but them days seem long gone.

[Danq]

Dundee now 7s for Div 1 Skybet must have cut them after my bet

[kompressaur]

Talking about 7's Danq Ayr's 7-1 defeat by errrrr...QOS?? with an almost full strength team hasn't helped my cause. I think it's all hotting up now and i cant wait to get started proper especially with the friendlies kicking off. I was reading Brechin are looking quite together in themselves. I dont know if theyve got it for the season but i could be watching htem to get off to a good start.

I think im gonna try and get my betfair acount funded and try a bit of backing and laying on seasonal prices. Actually no i aint as i dont have the money to put on to justify doing it really.

[kompressaur]

Last one for me before bed. No cigs

[kompressaur]

im making a list of scottish club sites and links up for the front page. ill add them and any news

..:Airdrie United Football Club:...

The Club is delighted to announce the signing of 2 New Players Stuart Noble & Willie Soutar have both agreed deals today (Tuesday 17th July)

is that Noble who was at East Fife last season? Ex Alloa? Out with injury and had a fall out with the manager? Willie soutar's got about hasnt he?

Albion Rovers Message Board

Former Elgin City midfielder Jamie McKenzie is poised to sign a one-year deal with Albion Rovers.

The Duffle Forum - Saturday's Game & the Latest chat


East Fife forum- Away From The Numbers

The 26-year-old assisted Elgin in the second half of last season on a non-contract basis to train the club's southern-based players for manager Robbie Williamson.

Despite recently completing his Uefa B coaching licence, McKenzie wants to focus solely on playing during the forthcoming campaign.

He has been offered terms by Cliftonhill manager John McCormack and should put pen to paper this week

I belive he's signed and from memory he's an ok player. Elgin's loss is definetly Albion Rovers gain imo.

[kompressaur]

Berwick Rangers FC Forum • View forum - Berwick Rangers First Team
Brechin City Football Club

City took on beaten Scottish Cup finalists Dunfermline Athletic at Glebe Park tonight in the 3rd pre-season friendly and once again proved to be a good run-out for the players against higher league opposition.

With the rain clouds forming before the game, the heavens opened as soon as the match kicked off and both sides found it difficult to create any opportunities in the pouring rain.

Both sides looked extremely keen however, and it was City who conjured up the first chance of the match after 11 minutes when Phil McGuire's slip allowed Chris Geddes through on goal but Roddy McKenzie made a good save to deny the young striker. .....

rss feed for brechin
Brechin City Football Club News Feed

Ayr United Football Club - Official Website

Elgin City Football Club
Elgin City Message Board - Message Board - ezboard.com

Friday, 13 July 2007
Third Division : Predictions for the coming season

It's been a rather odd summer in the comings-and-goings department. First of all let's welcome back the Loons to the bottom rung of the footballing ladder, after a truly woeful season last time out saw them relegated in early November. With Geordie Shaw's pop at management ending in such ignominious failure, there were audible gasps all around Angus when the Station Park board turned to the unlikely figure of Jim Moffat to revive their fortunes. Long term readers of this blog will remember well the pastings Moffat's truly abysmal Methylated Feefers XIs received. Controversially, the tactically illiterate route-one gaffer has been busy in the summer re-assembling Henry Halls' Montrose side from eighteen months ago. Only Michael "the Human Skittle" Hankinson is missing, with Sandy Wood and Andy Reid jousting for the no.1 jersey. Devotees of the fumbled cross and sclaffed goal kick will also be delighted to see "Fingers" Butter welcomed to the Station Park squad in recent days after an ill-starred spell down the road at Carnoustie Panmure. I can only assume it's some kind of coaching role, as by now the clammy palmed "Fingers" must be at least 479, and even the Shire weren't willing to sign him. Add Martyn "Foxy" Fotheringham and Elliott Smith into the mix, and it seems certain to be a long season of midtable nothingness for the hapless Bridies. The only note of sadness will be seeing the legendary Steve Kerrigan lining up in sky blue this season. I wish we'd given him another twelve month deal here, as he had a lot to offer in coaching the younger players, and shoring up the midfield in tighter games.

Speaking of the Shire, things at last seem to be looking up for them on and off the park. Those of you who have yet to experience an afternoon's "entertainment" at the Firs Park artillery range had better do so this season, as this seems likely to be their last in "Falkirk Town Centre". Spencer Fearn, the man pumping new money into the club, seems to be intent on leaving FP for a new stadium as a means of loosening the deadening grip of Alan "the merciless" Mackin. Even the near-Meadowbank conditions afforded by playing in an empty athletics stadium in Grangemouth whilst choking on lungfuls of petrochemical by-product is a better fate than having no club at all. Shire have made some eye catching new signings, have a new kit desinged by "Joma" (favourites in La Liga in Spain). They won't challenge for promotion, but won't be cannon fodder, either. A familiar face in defence will be Paul "Doyler" Doyle, a shame as he certainly had the ability to play higher up the leagues.

With the departure of the Borderers in an upward direction, fans had hoped that the bi-annual endless away trip had gone, but, sadly, the Northumbrians were replaced by the Stena Sealink Works XI, dropping like a stone for the second successive season. Gerry Britton's shockingly dreadful side freed most of their squad over the summer, although, bizarrely, not the hopeless Britton himself. I don't think that there has been a worse senior manager in the league since the quality days of Stevie "Captain" Kirk's hilariously poor mismanagement of the Red Schichties. But, Britton soldiers on, and his sides are always entertaining to watch- if you're an opposing fan, that is. His Stena Sealink XIs usually find goals, but leak them in barrowloads at the other end, as part of his own unique interpretation of the Dutch "total football" system: "aw bastarts ur expectit tae defend n attack". Don't expect the team from the ingrowing toenail of Scotland to pull up any trees this year.

Weird goings on also, in the normally douce and quiet neighbourhood of Hellgin. The clueless blacknshites, barring a six month period under Brian "Praise the Lord" Irvine in early 2006, have been atrocious ever since they joined the league and, with no obvious source of income, and the loss of their best players, a really long and grim season lies ahead. unless, of course, the astonishing happens. the back page of the PeeandJay a few weeks back contained the startling revelation that a "security" business owner with links to what is euphemistically titled "the adult entertainment industry is going to make a substanital investment. There's no doubt that the replacment of the popular Borough Briggs social club with a lapdancing-venue-cum-massage parlour would boost gates, but, if the Moray club is to avoid finishing bottom, urgent replacements need to be found for Martin Johnston and young Demspie, both of whom for some reason decided that signing for the Hedge Trimmers would be a step forward in their careers. And, according to today's papers, the deal has collapsed, which leaves a frankly bereft "player acquisition" purse in the Borough Briggs boardroom.

Another lean summer for the Wee Rovers, it seems. In one of the most unjustified sackings of all time, club legend Jim Chapman was given his jotters at the end of the last campaign, apparently for the heinous crime of "poor communication". Whether Chapman was a serial mute who refused to talk to anyone, or always had his mobile switched to "silent" is a matter for conjecture, but surely his turning of the canary and red perennial backmarkers into a respectable side was enough to keep him on. However, not according to the Rovers board, who turned to John "Cowboy" McCormack, late of Dens Park and Cappielow, to, er, take the club forward. McCormack's task hasn't been made any easier with the departure of all the decent young players Chapman had nurtured in his two years at Cliftonhill. Lennon and Chaplain, two of the most coveted players in our league, have both signed for Plastic Whistle, amidst a Fall-of-the-Berlin Wall-style exodus. The new manager's singings (all of two, and one of them is John McStay) hardly inspire confidence and it could be a bad season down Coatbridge way after a couple of half decent showings in the last campaigns.

I'm not convinced by the Sons either. An exceptionally dreary run-in for the Clydesiders saw their play off "challenge" sputter into nothingness, in a manner reminiscent of a damp fart. Since this flatulent conclusion to last season, there has been a relentless desertion of the "home" dresing room at The Rock Stadium, including all their better players. McPhee from "Airdrie United" (aka The Bankies) is an interesting signing but, as things stand, their squad is thin-bordering-on-anaemic, and certainly not sufficiently robust to mount a serious challenge.

In classic Gable End Graffiti style, this article has featured little other than vituperation and wanton character assassination. It's time to be a bit more positive, perhaps, and look at the teams who might actually challenge for something season.

The clear pre-season favourites, alas, are David A. Baikie's Fife Home for the Terminally Bewildered. The puglilistic gaffer, already with a fearsome reputation as the man with the worst moustache in Scottish football, has over the last eighteen months gained a reputation for following government policy and encouraging geriatrics to prolong their working lives (Scott Crabbe anyone?). Whilst there are still several copper-bottomed codgers on the Methil books, there have been some real headline singings in the close season. Paul Mathers, long time foe from his Fishy Jailers days, has signed as goalkeeper & coach; Stevie Nicholas and Paul McManus are a potentially lethal strike pairing at this level; Craig O'Reilly has signed full time after falling from favour at Dens, and is a totally different player to the gawky, angular Carsten Jancker alike (i.e. he never scored) during his brief period in a Montrose shirt. Add the likes of Dougie Cameron and Graham Guy and, on paper, there is a squad there that really should walk this league. But, as we have found to our cost so many times, having a good squad on paper means the square root of fuck all once the real season actually starts.

The big disappointment of last season were the Stenny Simulators who fell apart totally and finished about seventh, despite my bold predicition that they would be the team to beat last time around. I must confess to being highly skeptical of the abilities of Campbell Money as a manager and so too do many of the Simulators fans. Money seems to have been making the right moves this summer though, clearing out so many of the full-of-promise-but-big-heids-and-never-delivered squad that have worn maroon in the past three or four years. Money has made some good signings in Ross Hamilton and John Dillon, with the experience of Hillcoat in goal, but has also worryingly fallen over himself to sign Stevie Hampshire. Time will tell if this will be another pish season down Ocvhilview, but my hunch is that it won't.

Which brings us to the Red Schichties. Certainly we have transfer market bragging rights over them at the moment, having snatched goalkeeper Mark Peat- probably the best in this division, tall and uncompromising defender Ian Dobbins, and the mercurial Jay Stein from under their noses. Then again, we had bragging rights two years ago when we captured "Henner's" signature, and that didn't work out as everyone expected. That polecat McGlashan has made some more canny signings, in Paul Tosh from the Bridies and Tully from the Fishy Jailers, who is a real been-there-done-that player at this level. McGlashan needs a keeper and perhaps a couple of new defenders-cum-midfielders, but this, choking it is to admit though it is, still a pretty good squad that with a bit of luck would now be in the second division. A*****th will definitely be another team right up there come May 2008, although I can feel a couple of derby wins in ma watter this season.

As for Montrose? The interesting thing is that the squad is still much the same as last season's which in the main did so poorly. The capture of Bairdy for the season is very significant, although I'm concerned that with the departure of Scott "Judas" Michie to the Locos, there's not all that much by way of competition in the forward department. The logic of that sale was obvious- he wasn't going to get a game and if someone was daft enough to pay 5k to have him flicking hair out his eyes for 90 minutes in their no. 9 shirt, then good luck to them. Michie will get a huge tally in the Highland League but in many ways his is the story of so many Scottish footballers whose promising career has dribbled away into inconsequence; he could have been a really good first division striker if he had the right attitude and trained. But, he doesn't, so a man of his undoubted ability is wasting away in the Highland League. Sad.

For the first time in years the defence looks absolutely solid with the arrival of McGowne and Dobbins, a natural centre half pairing if ever there was one. the emphasis has to be on height, for too often since the turn of the century Montrose's back line has been stuffed with willing wee men who struggle with high balls- with dire consequences. With those two at centre half, "Neilly" Stepehen- happily back at Links Park- could slot in at left back, with Cumming, hopefully having had an attitude transplant in the summer, on the right. With Chris McLeod and DK waiting in the wings, the defence looks good.

The midfield is perhaps short of a flair player or two. Long gone are the days when the likes of Webster and Sharp would wow the LP faithful with trickery and outrageous passes that never quite came off. Gibson, Davidson and Donachie are all hard grafters, with the first of those three being one of the best central midfielders in the lower leagues. the remaining exciting players, Napier and Stein, I can't really see being 36-games-a-season players, so we need one or two more signings to boost that part of the squad. Up front, this could be the season where Phil reid finally comes into his own, too; I always he felt that he had been used far too sparingly in his two seasons at the club, and it will be good to see someone of his turn of pace get a regular run out.

With (possibly) a no. 2 keeper, two new midfielders and another striker, this squad has the potential to deliver Montrose's best season for a long time, nowe that a management team that knows what they're about has been belatedly installed. But, we've said that before the beginning of every season for as long as I can remember. for Jim Weir and his squad to reach the play offs, after Montrose have been in the blackest of troughs for so many seasons, would be something to celebrate indeed.

Predicted Table May 2008: 1. East Fife 2. A*****th 3. Stenhousemuir 4. Montrose 5. Dumbarton 6. Forfar Athletic 7. East Stirlingshire 8. Stranraer 9. Albion Rovers 10. Elgin City

Gable End Graffiti

[Danq]

Noble ex Fulham as well Komp saw him at hampden against Queens with E Fife ,best player for them that day bit short on the fitness front injuries?

[MickeyPaul]

Here's the suspensions list folks:

http://www.thedailypunt.com/LOS01(19Jul).doc

I hope.

[parksy]

hello everybody.ive just joined this website today.i only found out about about it yesterday.i have been betting on scottish lower leauge soccer this past 5 or 6 years and i have been making good money at it.i never bet english soccer at all now apart from the premiership an odd time.but ive found scottish lower leauge soccer to be very good for betting and making a good profit at.i spend a lot of time checking things up on all the clubs websites and the daily record is a good help as well.i do straight bets.minus goals bets and h.tf.t bets.i find the minus goal bets you get better odds on the asian handicap with bet 365.i hope this season is no different to any other season and i can make good money again.ill post my tips on here every week and anything else i find out to give us punters a chance of beating the bookies.i also am looking forward to everybody elses tips as well.roll on the 4th of august for the 1st big bet.cant wait.

[MickeyPaul]

Great to see you, parksy. A warm welcome to The Daily Punt. We love our Scottish football betting here so hopefully you'll enjoy your stay.

[kompressaur]

One thing that we like more at TDP than our Scottish Football betting parksy is people who love their Scottish Football betting. Welcome to TDP and here's to a successful season to us all. Bloody hell this time in 2 weeks we'll be sitting with our first coupons of the season in our hands and the joys of 3pm on a saturday in our hearts. Aye it's just about time for me to start getting serious i think. Last season's 1st day i did ok from memory. The reason i mention it as 2 seasons ago i thought i was in for a great day and i belived i had the bookies on the run with some cracking prices. 7 selections and 7 losers. Not even a bloody draw

[Danq]

Welcome Parksy good more input to this thread , i go to some of the games , try to watch a bit more , mainly the west Albion r Queens Dumbarton Thistle Airdrie even Morton,hope to cover a lot of their games.