Why Me?!

Confessions of an Edinburgh Clyde Supporter (Festive Special!)

Ok then, since the last entry (Dundee at home) as usual, things at the club have been quiet and nothing much seems to be happening……!

But, as we all know, this is Clyde we are talking about and there is never a dull moment!!

On Boxing Day we faced a difficult trip to Perth. Missing a suspended McGregor, I for one didn’t really hold out to much hope; then for 80 minutes we put in the sort of dogged, determined display that is essential if we are to influence the top of the table. Inexplicably however, 10 minutes of chaos follows and we manage to go from a winning position to losing 2-1. Probably the most sickening result possible, the sort of result which has me trying to figure out what it is I have done to deserve such a punishment and refusing to speak to anyone for the rest of the day. I still can’t figure out what we did to deserve those two sucker punch goals, but by the next day, I had consoled myself with the thought that we Clyde fans were to be rewarded in another way: Namely 6 points from our rivals Hamilton and Thistle!!

Alas, the 30th of December arrived, and with it came possibly our poorest performance of the season. The fact that we escaped with a 1-1 draw slightly brightens the memories, but I can remember watching (suffering) the game and pondering if all the pain of following Clyde home and away was worth it; then Gary Arbuckle popped up with another goal and the sun was shining on us again! Having taken a good away point, it seemed sensible to blame the inadequacies of the performance on the excuse for a playing surface. How Uefa can chose a synthetic pitch for this years Champions League final remains a mystery to me. I mean, if the master of the art of the first touch that is Stephen O’Donnell can’t get the ball under his spell then what hope is there for Ronaldinho and the like?!

The 2nd of January brought with it a Happy New Year and a woefully under strength Partick Thistle team. In the days leading up to the game, my Dad had been breaking into sweat panicking that they would somehow manage to get the game called off. Apparently his 3 days of praying and fasting worked though and the game went ahead as planned. The first game of 2007 also saw the return of a player, who, when fit looks like a touch of class at this level: Steven Masterton. Not only does he have the passing range and vision to unlock defences, he is also deceptively quick and has great shooting skills. These skills were all in evidence against Thistle where he turned in a man-of-the-match performance. Craig McKeown notched another from a Masterton set piece and an easy victory was wrapped up. So, 4 points form three tough games and up to 4th in the table: All-in-all, a decent return from a difficult period of games.

And then the fun began!! Thursday (4/1/07) saw Paul McHale sign a pre-contract with Dundee. Fair enough, the man has got to make as much money as he can, but it would still be best for all concerned if he was moved on now.

Further rumours began circulating and it seemed as though our whole team was about to sign for teams far below their capabilities. The whole transfer silly season would be a lot less annoying if our players were leaving to go on to bigger and better things and not just more money at teams less capable than us! (Note Eddie/Dougie: You are better than Dundee!)

Friday however saw the release of the good news promised by “Eastwood.” And good news it was: Hutton, Higgins, McKenna, Williams and incredibly McGregor set to sign up new deals. What a great boost for the whole club before the cup tie!

Hopefully a few more will go on a sign up again and we can look forward to a bright 2008.

Keep the faith!