Clyde Ethos Impresses Gormley

New signing David Gormley has previously played senior football for Alloa and Ayr United, while during his time at Auchinleck Talbot he netted over 50 goals and fired the club to Junior Cup glory twice. However, since joining Clyde the striker revealed that he is enjoying an atmosphere he has never previously encountered.

After helping Talbot win last season’s Junior Cup final Gormley was told to take an extra week off before returning for pre-season training. When he did start pre-season he picked up a freak injury in the first session but that doesn’t stop the 27-year-old talking about his Clyde introduction in glowing terms.

Gormley spoke to the official website following his competitive debut for The Bully Wee against Livingston and said: “I have been really impressed since I arrived. Everything is at a high tempo and the manager just wants the best out of his players which is a good thing to have. I’ve not been to a training session before that is so high tempo and shows so much commitment.

“This is the first time I have been somewhere with everyone looking forward to coming to training – usually if you have been working all day the last thing you want to do is go to training but it is totally different at Clyde and there is a really good vibe and a really good buzz about the camp. 

“As the manager has said, we have only been together four weeks and we only have two nights a week to train but we all want to be in there all the time. Everybody comes to training absolutely buzzing and it’s a good place to be.

“I’m a bit behind the other boys because the gaffer gave me an extra week off because I was playing in the Junior Cup final. Then in my first training session I bruised my ribs, so I was out for the first two weeks of pre-season, so that was why I didn’t play against East Kilbride or Wick. I’ve not had any injuries for the last three years and then there was a freak accident in the first session with Clyde!”

Despite not playing against Wick Academy, Gormley started against Brora Rangers and he believes the tour was a valuable experience both on and off the park for the squad. 

The striker continued: “I think the Highland tour was brilliant for us – with nine new signings it is important that everybody gets to know each other and it will stand us in good stead for the season. Even though the results weren’t ideal it was more about the training sessions, getting to know the players, working on the shape, the manager telling us his plans for the season and us all bonding. 

“There are a lot of players who have dropped leagues to join the club, I think I am the only one who has come up the way and it is good for me to be playing at a higher standard. The quality of player takes care of itself but team spirit is the main thing and I think the tour away brought everyone together. There are no cliques in the squad which is good to see; usually in a squad there are wee cliques with players from last year and players from this year but that isn’t the case here.”

Despite the disappointment of the loss to Livingston in the Petrofac Cup, Gormley felt the game should have at least gone to extra-time and was keen to highlight the role the fans can play this season: “We were disappointed to go out and I think in the first 25-30 minutes we were disappointed with our performance, but after that I thought we were the better team.

“It was maybe just a week too early for us but I thought we were unlucky not to get a draw, we maybe could have even won because I thought we were the better team in the second half. It was a good tempo and good atmosphere and after the game the manager was still upbeat and said we were unlucky not to get the draw. 

“One thing he said before the game was that it is not about the 11 players that are starting, or the subs, or the manager – it is about everyone in the changing room and the fans. If we are going to do something this season we all need to do it together. That was great for us to hear. 

“We need the fans as much as the fans need us so hopefully we can create a good bond, they will support us and we will try to do it for them on the park. A good support travelled to Livingston and hopefully they will be there in good numbers at home games and at Stirling Albion away, because that game will be a benchmark and it will hopefully set us up for the campaign ahead.”