Barry Grateful for Positive Support

Clyde manager Barry Ferguson spoke to the official website this evening, in the middle of a cup double header against Championship side Livingston.

The Lions progressed to the Second Round of the Petrofac Cup following a narrow 2-1 win on Saturday, but The Bully Wee’s performance was encouraging particularly in the second half.

“I was disappointed to get knocked out by the end of the match and so were the boys,” Barry said. “After the first 25 minutes we really got a grip of the game and I thought we should have taken it to extra-time.

“We started with a shape that we haven’t really had much time to work on during pre-season. I watched Livi on Monday and decided that we’d try something a bit different, but we only had two training sessions to work on it. That was possibly a fault on my part but I wanted to have a gameplan that would allow us to grow into the game.

“However I was really pleased with how we finished and we put a lot of pressure on their goal in the closing stages. We’ve worked really hard on our fitness levels and it was good to see us holding our own against a full-time team for the full 90 minutes.”

Barry was also keen to praise the healthy number of Clyde supporters who attended the match at Almondvale:-

“The fans were different class. They turned up in good numbers and really got behind us which was brilliant to see. It was definitely appreciated by the players and I hope it can continue throughout the season; things won’t always go the way that I want or the way that the fans want, but if we can keep a good relationship going it will help over the season.”

With the competitive season now underway and the start of the 2015-16 League Two campaign approaching, Barry was still upbeat about the preparations in general:-

“I’m still really happy with how things are going and how the new signings have settled into the squad. There’s a good buzz about the place and every session has a really high tempo, which is exactly what I wanted.

“They are great boys and my only complaint is that I only get two days a week to work with them. We’ve already got a gameplan for Saturday but we need to work on that alongside our fitness and drills, so we’re having to fit a lot into two evenings. That’s the difficult part, but we just need to get on with it 

“Ideally I’d like to have another two or three bodies in the squad but we don’t have the budget unfortunately. We’ve still got the option of loan deals and, although I’m a bit cautious about that route, I’ll be keeping my eye on it over the next few weeks to see if there is a good fit for us.”