Gary Wood

The official website reports that Gary Wood will probably miss the remainder of the season. He was taken to hospital in an ambulance during our win over Raith, suffering from a double fracture to his cheekbone. The injury originally occured in a CIS Cup match at Hamilton in August 2006, where he missed a few weeks of last season before returning with a protective face mask.

Berwick Rangers 2-1 Raith Rovers

Fantastic.

An excellent performance from Berwick on Boxing Day, a pleasure to be at Shielfield, which has been a rare feature this season. We are still 6 points behind 9th and now Ayr have been dragged into the dog fight. Those two games against Ayr and Brechin next week could potentially tighten things up at the bottom.

Diack had put us ahead with a well taken header, but Raith equalised 60 seconds later. For some reason the Raith fans decided to stand in the home end and generally make a nuisance of themselves, the boys in blue arrived at half time to move them on.

Our winning goal came just before the hour mark, Ian Little with another header. We were left to hang on for half an hour but we never looked like losing.

Alloa Athletic vs Berwick Rangers

There are early worries about this match going ahead. It is currently freezing in Alloa and the over night temperature is forecast to drop just under freezing. However the forecast for Saturday morning is good - quite a bit milder, 7 degrees with a chance of rain. Any ground frost will have hopefully lifted in time for the 3pm kick off.

A statement has just appeared on the Official Alloa FC website, stating that there is no problem with the pitch for tomorrow's game. The wonders of a plastic pitch - apparently the pitch is still playable at -15 degrees!

So assuming the game goes ahead, we need to pick up points. I seem to find myself saying this each and every week. But it is true, we need to start picking up some points before the games start to run out. Danny Swanson will play in one of his last games for the club, before his move to Tannadice, only 2 more games remain.

Bluesq: Alloa 4/9, Draw 16/5, Berwick 9/2
Weather: Chance of showers, 7 degrees.
Recreation Park Tel: 01259 722695

Festive Make or Break

We have a gruelling schedule of fixtures over the Christmas and New Year period, with 5 games that will probably save our season or go along way to sending us through the Second Division trap door.

Here is the festive fixture list:

December
Sat 22 - Alloa Athletic (A)
Wed 26 - Raith Rovers (H)
Sat 29 - Airdrie United (H)

January
Wed 2 - Ayr United (A)
Sat 5 - Brechin City (H)


A potential 15 points up for grabs, by my reckoning we will be doing well to win a third of those points. If we start well with a win at Alloa and pick up some points against Raith, Airdrie Utd or Ayr we will be in a good position.

The 5th January is a real six-pointer against Brechin, if we have picked up a few points over Christmas and they have had a bad period, we could have a chance of leapfrogging them into that play-off place. Lots of 'ifs', especially as Brechin are 6 points ahead of us at the moment, but it may be our last chance at kick starting our season!

Where are they now? Gary McCutcheon

Continuing the series, I take a look at where striker Gary McCutcheon has ended up. He is currently scoring goals for fun over the water in Northern Ireland, playing for Portadown in the Carnegie Premier League.

He played for Berwick during the 2003/2004 season, appearing in 33 games and hitting the net an impressive 15 times. He joined us from Dumbarton, but was originally a youth with Kilmarnock. He had had loans spells at Clydebank, Stenny and Portadown before being released from Rugby Park to join the Sons.

During the 33 games he played, he formed a terrific partnership with Gareth Hutchison, and between them netted over 30 goals in that season.

He seems to be doing very well in Northern Ireland, he was at Larne before joining Portadown where he is near the top of the scorers chart with 13 goals already this season.

Ross County 2-1 Berwick Rangers

The slide back to the basement of Scottish football continued on Saturday at Ross County. Watched by the handful of fans who made the trip, Berwick found it hard going. This is another game I wasn't at, but I have spoken to a few people who did make the trip.

The general consensus is that we were dominated for most of the game by a strong looking Ross County side, but certainly didn't disgrace ourselves. Danny Swanson's second half goal gave us some hope but County finished us off in the end. The press reports suggest that the home side actually had four goals chalked off for offside!

Renwick spoke to the press after the game: “If we can keep playing the way we are at the moment then I am sure we will reach the turning point and the victories will come. I thought we really played well but, as so often happens when you are down at the bottom of the league, you just do not get the breaks and unfortunately that was the case with their second goal which appeared to be scored from an offside position,”.

And he added: “The one thing that really pleased me was that we went to the top of the league side and gave them a good run for their money and, hopefully, did not pick up any more injury problems on the way.”

Alloa on Saturday...I'm going to this one. No station at Alloa yet though, so those going on the train will need a taxi from Stirling.

Ross County vs Berwick Rangers

It's only 230 miles...

Rangers make the long trek north tomorrow, to face league leaders Ross County. The last time we were in Dingwall we lost 6-0, with Neil Tarrant (later snapped up by Aston Villa) completely running the show. We'll be out to make sure nothing like that happens.

We haven't beaten County since that 7-4 win in the Scottish Cup back in 1992, when the away side travelled down from the Highlands by helicopter. Since their entry into the SFL, The Staggies have gone from strength to strength, despite recent troubles and the Save our Staggies appeal.

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure, going up to Dingwall is like going to the end of the Earth. It is a good trip though, either by train or car.

My Prediction: Ross County 2-0 Berwick Rangers

Bluesq: Ross County 1/3; Draw 3/1; Berwick 15/2
Weather: Sunny, 9 degrees

The SFL have started to publish a weekly ebulletin called 'The Insider', it is free to download and worth a look. Click here

The story rumbles on...

This story just won't go away. I have spoken to a lot of people this week, many of who couldn't believe what they read on Tuesday. It is a real sorry tale. Peter McAskill is man who has contributed so much to Berwick Rangers since 1956, it is sad that his connection with the football club has ended this way.

Having said that, the allegations are quite damning. And whilst the club haven't made a statement or gone to the police, Peter hasn't stepped forward to deny the story. So the whole thing is up in the air really, I doubt we'll ever really find out what has happened. The punters are usually the last to know, languishing at the bottom of the food chain.

I have lots of different thoughts about this, but until something is proven one way or the other, it would be unfair to post them on here.

Peter McAskill

Not a pleasant story here, head over to the Daily Record website now to read it, they carry a full page article on page 19 of today's edition. Along with a picture of Peter receiving a gift for his loyal service to the football club.

I heard this story when it was still a rumour a couple of weeks ago. To be honest I thought it was just a silly rumour and refused to believe it could be true. Peter has been at the club for 50 years, the Supporters Club for two decades and was pivotal in setting up 'Friends of Berwick Rangers', which helped save the club in the early 90s.

Along with the likes of Ian Oliver and John Hush he is highly regarded as one of the grand fathers of the football club. So to read this story this morning must be quite upsetting for everyone at the club and us the supporters.

I'm not going to say any more than that for now, read the article and make up your own mind - Daily Record

Book Signing

Last Saturday's book signing went really well, with dozens of fans turning up to get their copy of 'Mission Impossible' signed by players from last season.

They are pictured below with author Chris Sanderson.

Grant back in training?

There was a whisper in the Ducket on Saturday, about the possible return of ex-defender Grant McNicoll. He was at Saturday's book signing and also took in Berwick vs Queen's Park. I've also heard that he was at the players Christmas night out at the weekend.

Rumour has it he is back training with Berwick in Edinburgh. I really hope it is true, Grant should never have been released, one of John Coughlin's mistakes last summer. Always reliable and steady on his feet, McNicoll was with us for 10 years before his contract wasn't renewed - Coughlin sited Grant's fitness as the problem.

He has recently been in talks with members of the Supporters Trust regarding a testimonial next year.

I'm sure we'll here something this week, so stay tuned.

Saturday's Match Comments

From the Daily Record...

Speaking about Saturday's match, Michael Renwick said:"Our immediate target is to overtake Brechin, who are also struggling at the bottom.And if we can achieve that, then I'm not prepared to settle for a play-off place. The next target would be enough wins to secure survival.

"The players showed great fighting sprit to come back and earn a point and I'm hoping we can go on and build on this.

"I think we are in a false position in terms of the football we produced."

Queen's boss Billy Stark said: "Berwick made us battle all the way to the end but after going a goal up we should have gone on to close the match out."

Berwick Rangers 1-1 Queen's Park

A point is better than nothing...

This was a game we should have won, despite the truly awful conditions at Shielfield on Saturday. Sideways rain and gale-like conditions put paid to any hope of a flowing game, although to be fair both sides did try and pass the ball.

The feeling of having 'should have won' has featured after a few games recently, a sure sign we are steadily improving under Renwick.

We do need to tighten up at the back and decide which four players make up our best back line. This was demonstrated in the 25th minute with the Hoops' opening goal. A nothing ball from the Queen's left back should have been dealt with by Horn or Fraser but evaded them, which caught out Gary O'Connor and bounced past him on the edge of the area, leaving McGrady to pop in from the right and calmly place the ball home. A poor goal to lose, our players will probably blame the conditions, but it should have been dealt with.

With the wind in Berwick's favour, we went on to dominate in the second half. The equalising goal came with 16 minutes to go. It was new signing Kevin Davison, who had been quite quiet, who got down the left and swung in a perfect cross for wee David Greehill head home.

As I said before, we should have won this. Never mind, every point counts although the fight for survival is getting tougher each week.

Berwick Rangers vs Queen's Park

I hate when we play Queen's Park, I'm never confident. I think there is something deep routed into my heed, from the season they beat us to the title. That said, I really hope we can keep the points tally going. A defeat on Saturday could see us 12 point adrift of 8th and that is a massive hill to climb with Christmas not even here yet.

A more spirited display last Saturday at Brechin is encouraging. As is the fact that key players are starting to come back into the fold. That said, we will lose Danny in four games time.

Like I said last week, this is the sort of game where we should be picking up points. And it may be our best chance to win a game at Shielfield since we beat Airdrie almost four months ago. Here's hoping anyway.

My prediction: Berwick Rangers 2-1 Queen's Park. We really need a win.

Radio Borders - 6pm Tonight

Yours truly will be speaking on Radio Borders tonight, along with author of 'Mission Impossible', Chris Sanderson. We are heading along to Tweedbank to promote the book release and to speak about the book signing tomorrow lunch time. Tune in to 102.3 FM from 6pm!

Where are they now? Denis McLaughlan

Over the next few weeks I am going to be looking at where ex-players have ended up. To start off, I have tracked down Denis McLaughlin. The Northern Irish attacking midfielder played an important role in the first half of the championship season, scoring vital goals against Elgin and East Fife. He was on loan from Hearts but returned at the end of 2006. He then went back out on loan, this time to Raith Rovers, until the end of the 2006/7 season.

He has ended up back out on loan at Gimnastic Torrelavega. Yeah, I had never heard of them either. But a bit of digging reveals that they are a small Spanish team competing in the Tercera División, Spain's fourth tier, sitting under the La Liga set up.


They aren't doing very well this season - second bottom at the minute. Can't seem to find any appearance stats - so I'm not sure if Denis is getting a game. One thing is for sure though, northern Spain certianly beats a wintery afternoon on Shielfield.

City Cup Semi-Final

Spartans face Livingston in the semi-final of the City Cup. The winners will play us in the final (date to be arranged). We progressed to the final after our reserves beat Kelso United 5-1 at Shielfield in October.

Kevin Davison

I haven't really spoken about Kevin Davison yet. By all accounts he had a solid enough debut at Brechin on Saturday, getting on the score sheet too. Hopefully he can dig in and ensure that he is on the team sheet each week. He certainly has the pedigree, coming from Division One leaders Hamilton.

He only had a couple of sub appearances to his name at New Douglas Park, with competition for places proving quite tough. He had signed from Gretna last July, after helping their reserve side to the Reserve League West title. Apart from that, he never started a first team game at Raydale.

(c) theducket.com

He spoke to the press after last Saturday's match:
"That was my first ever start in a league match in Scotland and I capped it with a goal. I'm a Geordie boy and I began my career at Gretna but never began a game for them. Then I went to Hamilton but never got a start for them, although I was a sub a few times. It was great to start today and getting a goal was an added bonus."

Hopefully we are going to start turning the corner now, with players coming back and the promise of a couple of new faces in the January transfer window. We need points though - and fast.

Mission Impossible OUT TODAY!

After 6 months of hard work, the Berwick Rangers book 'Mission Impossible' is finally in the shops. For details of how to get your copy, head over to the Supporters Trust website. Kevin McCormick has reviewed to book on theducket.com - well worth checking that out.

So what are you waiting for, rush out and get your copy today!

Brechin City 2-2 Berwick Rangers

Typical...I don't go and they play better! A series of events on Satuday morning meant that I had to abandon going up to Brechin. Only the second game, home and away, I have missed since 1997. And to tell you the truth, I didn't miss it. Don't worry though, I'll not be falling into the Homebase trap or anything silly like that!

Reports in the press and on theducket.com suggest we played better - with players coming back and new signing Kevin Davison also doing well. It is also good to see Gary Wood back, it is no coincidence that when Gary is playing well, we normally start to string some results together.

Queen's Park next Saturday, it is always a bit tasty against them.

Brechin City vs Berwick Rangers

I'm really not looking forward to this one. It is the battle of the basement boys as we take on Brechin at Glebe Park. I used to like going to these places, but nowadays it seems more like a chore. I have spoken to ONE other Berwick fan who is also making the trip. Looks like a skeleton support from Berwick.

During the week we added ex-Grenta midfielder Kevin Davison, signing on from Hamilton. He seems to play on the right side of midfield. We have needed some competition in midfield since the strange departure of Gary Greenhill. He has signed on until the end of the year, when we will also lose midfielder Danny Swanson to Dundee United. However the club chairman has promised Renwick some coin in the January transfer window, so...

When City were down at Shielfield a couple of months ago, Brechin looked quite poor and we should have taken all three points instead of surrendering a 3-3 draw. This is the sort of game we have to take points from.

My prediction: Brechin 2-2 Berwick.

Weather: Sunny, 8 degrees
Betting: Brechin 2/1, Berwick 7/2, draw 3/1

Emergency Transfer - Kevin Davison

We have signed Kevin Davison from Hamilton on an emergency transfer, until 31st December 2007. More on him when I have it...

Gary's Testimonial

The official website have today run a story about Gary O'Connor. He has been granted a testimonial after 14 years of service to the club (only broken by spells at Cowden, East Fife and Partick). It comes after he made his 250th appearance on Saturday at Dumbarton.

If anyone deserves a testimonial it is Gary. He has been a great servant to the club in his three spells at Shielfield, coming through a couple of dodgy periods to still be our No.1.

There has been a mention of a game against Celtic next summer. That would be a tremendous fixture to host at Shielfield Park - lets hope the testimonial committee can help pull it off. Grant McNicoll has already spoken to a few people in Berwick about holding a testimonial, I don't know if there would be any mileage in holding a joint occassion?

I'll let you all know if I hear anything...

Dumbarton 2-0 Berwick Rangers

Utter rubbish...

And I'm being kind when I say that! This was one of the worst performances I've seen Berwick turn in recently, especially with the potential prize of a tie at an SPL ground. The fact that there was only 50 odd Berwick fans in attendance speaks volumes too - a few years ago we would have taken over 100 through to any Scottish Cup tie.

above: David Crawford saves McLeish's penalty (theducket.com)

The tie was over before half time, McFarlane and McPhee scoring for Dumbarton. We did have a chance to get back into the game, but McLeish had his penalty saved. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take in the second half after two of Rock Steady's finest asked me to leave the stadium for the unforgivable crime of.....standing. God knows how they'll cope if they have to deal with any sort of away support in the next round. Makes you think how lucky we are to have common sense stewarding at Shielfiled...

We are at Brechin next week, on league business. For the first time since 1997 I'm thinking of not bothering going to a game. A couple of others that go regularly were saying the same thing, has it really come to this, not 7 months after winning the title?

Dumbarton vs Berwick Rangers

Cup Fever.....and Gary's 250th game!

We head to Dumbarton tomorrow for the Third Round of the Tennents Scottish Cup. For the first time this season we go into a game as favourites!

Michael Renwick has this week said that a win this Saturday could kick start our season. And a win is essential if we are to start gaining some confidence. It is the sort of comments managers make when they first come to a club, but his sentiments are right.

Some good news on the injury front - it looks like Gary Wood is fit again to pull on a Berwick jersey and Danny Swanston is also eligible despite his sending off a fortnight ago. So we are all set for a win then...

It is worth mentioning that this will be Gary O'Connor's 250th competitive game for Berwick. Gary has been with us on and off for nearly 15 years. Well done to Gary, here's to another 250!!

Bus to Dumbarton

Seats still left...

Berwick Rangers Supporters are running at 49 Seater Coach to Dumbarton, for the cup tie on Saturday the 24th of November. The bus will be leaving from Shielfield Park at 10:30, picking up at Golden Square and the Elizabethan. All other reasonable requests for pick ups will be considered.

Prices are £10 for Adults, and £5 for under 16's. To book your space please call/text - 07769 971 921 or you can visit - www.berwickrangers.co.uk

You will also be able to buy one of the first copies of 'Mission Impossible' onboard the bus!

Back from the Baltic

Some of you were probably wondering why I've not updated my Blog in the last week. Well, I took advantage of the free weekend and jetted off to Riga, Latvia with a couple of like-minded individuals!


Whilst in Riga we took in Latvia vs Lichtenstein (in sub-zero conditions). In the bars in town it became apparent that football is not a popular sport in the Baltic region, with Ice Hockey attracting tens of thousands. We sat in a crowd of just under 5,000 - with the locals more interested in their Vodka filled hip flasks.

Lativa ran out 4-1 winners in the end, in a match that felt more like a pre-season friendly than an international encounter. Both sides were out of qualifying before the match kicked off. Still, only 3 lats (about £3.50) to take in a European qualifing match isn't bad and the vodka helped.

Win a copy of Mission Impossible

The Supporters Trust are running a competition to win the very first copy of 'Mission Impossible'. Head over to their website at www.berwickrangers.co.uk to enter! They also tell us that people who have pre-ordered can expect their copy at some point next week!

Renwick is not scared!

Michael Renwick had this to say in the Newcastle Journal this morning:

"Since I took over I have not seen anything in the league to frighten my team and there has been a marked improvement in performance levels. What we really need to do now is to try to get back to back victories which would kick-start our season."

Berwick Rangers 1-2 Peterhead

Unlucky...

We were very unlucky not to have gotten at least a draw this afternoon. Scott Gemmill had put us 1-0 up after 11 minutes with a fantastic 18 yard shot that went in off the under-side of the bar.

Peterhead levelled just before half time through Polish striker Konrad Kozminski. And Martin Bavidge knocked in the winner just before the hour mark, with the Berwick players appealing for offside.

Danny Swanson was sent off two minutes from time for a second bookable offence.

Mission Impossible

You can pre-order your copy of 'Mission Impossible' at the Trust Shop today. Either pre-match or at half-time.

Berwick Rangers vs Peterhead

A winable game this. Surely we'll pick up some points here, I was up at Balmoor in September and I thought Peterhead were very average and fortunate to win 4-3. That said, they are more than 10 points ahead of us.


A couple of rumours on P&B suggest that we may be getting a couple of youngsters on loan from Hibs - Darren McCormick and Ross Campbell are the names mentioned. Both younger than 20 and both with a sprinkling of Hibs first team action.

Whether it is these two lads or not remains to be seen, Michael Renwick has not made it a secret that he intends to utilise his contacts to get some loan players in. We'll find out tomorrow exactly who, if anyone, he has managed to bring in.

Referee: Steven Nicholls
Weather: Sunny, chance of rain. 12 degrees.
Bluesq: Berwick 9/5, Peterhead 11/10, Draw 5/2

Letter of the Week

Ducket regular Kenny Taylor has won the £25 first prize for his 'Letter of the Week' in the Daily Record. Here it is:

To say we have come down to earth with a bump is a bit of an understatement.

After all the hype of winning the Third Division last season we had high hopes we could establish ourselves in the Second.

We all knew we had to strengthen our pool which didn't happen (not with quality players, anyway) but many thought we were good enough at least to stay up.

But then we lost Gary Greenhill and Kevin Haynes and, if that wasn't bad enough, Danny Swanson's on his way too (good luck Danny - the boys all know you have the potential and hope you make it).

Then another bombshell as 'Coff' resigns, saying he can take the team no further.

Michael Renwick took over but I feel we needed someone with experience of managing at lower-league level - at 31 our new gaffer is a bit young to start in the hot seat.

The weekend's draw was very welcome but unless there is a dramatic improvement I fear we'll be in Division Three by Christmas.

Our chairman has said the club is nearly out of debt. Well, I hope we spend some cash in the January transfer window.

Dumbarton Bus Details

Berwick Rangers Travel Club are running at 49 Seater Coach to Dumbarton, for the cup tie on Saturday the 24th of November. The bus will be leaving from Shielfield Park at 10:30, picking up at Golden Square and the Elizabethan. All other reasonable requests for pick ups will be considered. The bus will return at approx. 8.30pm.


Prices are £10 for Adults, and £5 for U16's. To book your space please call/text - 07769 971 921 or e-mail travel@berwickrangers.co.uk

Ken Bowron Interview

Continuing the theme of the afternoon....there was a good interview with legendry goalscorer Ken Bowron in the North Tyneside Guardian yesterday. For those too young to remember, he still holds the record for goals in one season - hitting the net 50 times during the 63/64 season.

Click onto the News Guardian website to read the interview, by David Sedgewick.

Interview with Michael Renwick

There is a good interview in this tonight's Edinburgh Evening News. Sports journalist David Hardie interviewed Michael Renwick at last Sunday's Edinburgh derby. The interview is available on the Edinburgh Evening News website. Well worth a read...

More on John Martin

I didn't really cover the John Martin story last week and as things are a bit quiet, I thought I'd give you some more info on him. As you'll know already, Michael Renwick has brought him in as his assistant manager and goalkeeping coach. He comes from Cowden too.


John was an absolute legend with Airdrie, spending 19 years at Broomfield. He played in a couple of Cup finals and was 'Mr Airdrie' from 1980 onward. He was famed for swinging on cross bars - something referees didn't like, but it sent the Airdrie fans wild. His only time away from Airdrie in 19 years was a short loan spell at Albion Rovers in 1997. He left to go to Cowdenbeath in 2000, where helped them achieve promotion to the Second Division. He then had a spell in Junior football before a return to Central Park to take up the position of goalkeeping coach.

He also appeared in the film "A Shot to Glory", which was a Scottish production filmed at grounds in and around Glasgow. It also starred Robert Duvall and Ali McCoist.


Michael Renwick really couldn't ask for someone with more experience - hopefully John will enjoy a successful time at Shielfield.

Bus to Dumbarton

The Berwick Rangers Travel Club are thinking of running a bus to the Scottish Cup tie at Dumbarton a fortnight on Saturday (24th). Before committing to it, they would like to gauge initial interest. It would be a 10.30am leave and an 8.30pm return. Adults £10, U16s £5.

If you would be interested in going on the bus, please drop me a quick e-mail!

Newtongrange Star 1-1 Berwick Rangers

We drew 1-1 at New Victoria Park last night. I didn't make it along, but reports say that it was a team made up mostly of reserves, plus Noble, Stevenson, Flockhart and David Greenhill.

It was Steven Noble who got our goal. More if I get it!

Newtongrange Star vs Berwick Rangers

Berwick have arranged a friendly up at Newtongrange tonight. Probably arranged hastily, to help Renwick assess his entire squad, not just the players who are playing every Saturday.


It is a 7pm kick off.

If you are going along to the game, this is how to get there:
Head for Edinburgh and turn off for the A720 (Edinburgh bypass). At the Sheriffhall round about take the exit for the A7 south. Follow the A7 for for about 3 miles and turn left at the large Railway viaduct (which is sign posted Newbattle and Newtongrange). Follow this road for half a mile and take a left up the hill to the ground. You should see the floodlights from the main road.

Check the Newtongrange Star FC website for club info.

Berwick Rangers 1-1 Ayr United

Better...

We played a lot better on Saturday, a lot more fight and determination from the players. In the 7th minute we had that 'not again' feeling when ex-Chelsea youth Ryan Stevenson put Ayr ahead. But we fought back well, creating some good chances. We got out equaliser through Ian Diack early in the second half. Press reports say that we were lucky to get a draw, I disagree.

Ian Diack (c) theducket.com

Full report later. In the meantime, head over to the Supporters Trust website to pre-order your copy of Mission Impossible!

Berwick Rangers vs Ayr United

John Martin joins Renwick...

"Here we go again" is the feeling I seem to get before a match these days. But hopefully we can pick up some points tomorrow, something we haven't done in the last seven weeks. The last time we played Ayr they made us look very poor in a 4-0 thrashing at Somerset in August, so they come to Berwick as strong favourites.


Michael Renwick will be joined on the sidelines by his new assistant manager, John Martin. The ex-Airdrie goalkeeper comes in after a couple of seasons as goalkeeping coach at Cowdenbeath. Some of you will remember his son, also John, who played up front for us about 10 years ago. He will probably double up as a goalkeeping coach, as Alex Connon jumped ship with Coff and co.

Referee: Chris Boyle
Blue sq: Berwick 21/10, Airdrie Evens, Draw 12/5
Weather: Sunny, very mild.

Sponsor a Seat!

I have recently been contacted by Rodelle Purvis, secretary of the Berwick Rangers Supporters Club. She has asked me to promote an iniative to improve facilities at Shielfiled Park. So I will! It is called Sponsor a Seat, here is the blurb from the Supporters Club:

BRFC Supporters Club have generously purchased 100 new seats to begin the first phase of the Development of Shielfield Stadium, which was started in October 2007. Future works will bring the stadium into line with present day Health & Safety guidelines.

We would like to give you, a valued supporter, the chance to not only continue to give financial support to your Club and to help improve your stadium, but also to have your name added to the Roll Of Honour Wall.

For the sum of £20, you can sponsor a seat and have your name added to the Roll of Honour which will be proudly displayed for all to see in the Main Stand of the Stadium.


It is good to see gradual steps being taken to improve Shielfield. It has been pretty run-down of late, and with other clubs building new stadiums, we have kinda been left behind - with only the likes of Alloa and Cowdenbeath worse off.

The seated area has always been a problem. The seats in the main stand are funny mix - some of the original seating is there, along with seating added in the early 90s and the red seats came from Sunderland's old ground, Roker Park, when they moved to the Stadium of Light in 1997.

Good on the SC for taking the initiative, hopefully plenty of you will support the idea if you can. You can download an order form here.

More on 'Mission Impossible'

Our long awaited book has a release date - Monday 3rd December. Priced at only £9.99 it is sure to be a good seller amongst Berwick fans and football fans in general.


I have had fans asking me about the book since we won the league and I was plagued by people all summer - all of them wondering when they can get a copy. So it is satisfying to finally get the book to the printers. We have purposely taken our time to get it just right, I have personally spent in the region of 100 hours working on the layout and artwork. And Chris Sanderson spent countless long nights writing it.

We are going to be taking pre-orders on the Supporters Trust website, where fans can order the book from Monday 5th November. If you do pre-order, you will receive your copy a few days before the official release date of Monday 3rd December. From the release date, you will be able to buy copies from the many stockists we have lined up (details are on the Supporters Trust website).

The official book signing session is going to be on Saturday 8th December (home to Queen's Park) in the Black and Gold from 12.30pm. We hope to have most of the Championship winning squad there to sign copies of the book, which will also be available to buy on the day.

Finally, I'd ask you all to help promote the book as much as possible. All profit from the book go into Trust coffers, to help further the aims of Supporters Trust. But we need to sell as many as possible to recoup the initial printing costs. So go on, tell everyone you know about it, why not stick up a poster at your work or college? You can download it here. Cheers!

A letter from Big Kev...

I recently received this e-mail from Kevin Haynes, now playing for Bathgate, asking how he could get a copy of the book. But he also includes a message to the Ducket faithful...

Hi to everyone in the Ducket,

Kevin Haynes here, hope everything is about to take a good turn under the new manager which see's Berwick climb the league. The fans deserve it.

I'm hopimg Chris see's this or someone can pass this email to him. I'm looking for a copy of his book when it comes out and i have no other way to contact him. If you would be so kind to do so I'd be very grateful.

Looking forward to hearing from somebody, many thank and good luck for the rest of the season.

Kevin

Mission Impossible - out 3/12/07 priced £9.99

The Supporters Trust have announced details of the book they are publishing to commemorate last season's Championship win. Priced at £9.99, it is available to pre-order on the Supporters Trust website from next Monday (5th November).

It is on general sale from Monday 3rd December, the stockists and full details are also on the website. There is a limited print run of only 1500 copies, so you're best bet is to pre-order, especially if you are ordering more that one copy!

One thing they are asking fans to do is to help promote the book. You can download a poster here, print it out and stick it up in your work place/college etc. All proceeds from the book go into Trust coffers.

Cup Draw - Dumbarton or Forfar Away

Rubbish draw...

The draw for the Third Round of the Tennent's Scottish Cup was made at Hampden this afternoon. We have been handed an away tie at the winner of Dumbarton and Forfar, who replay their second round tie after a 1-1 draw.

Full draw:
Albion Rovers v East Stirlingshire
Forfar Athletic or Dumbarton v Berwick Rangers
Culter v Huntly
Brechin City v East Fife
Stranraer v Stirling Albion
Clyde v Montrose or Pollok
Cove Rangers v Edinburgh University
Partick Thistle v Ayr United
Threave Rovers v Raith Rovers
Greenock Morton v Buckie Thistle
Linlithgow Rose v Dalbeattie Star
Arbroath v Cowdenbeath
Ross County v Whitehill Welfare
Livingston v Alloa Athletic
Peterhead v Queen of the South
Airdrie United v Queen's Park

Our tie will be played on Saturday 24th November at 3.00pm.

Airdrie United 4-0 Berwick Rangers

New manager, same story. We were totally outclassed in the end at the Excelsior Stadium. The result leaves us rooted to the bottom of the league, 8 points adrift of safety.

Jordan Smith (c) Rob Dazell

A match report from Trust board member David Cook

If new manager Michael Renwick needed reminding of the size of the task facing him at Shielfield Park,he got it in spades after Rangers suffered a crushing defeat at New Broomfield against a resurgent Airdrie United side on Saturday.Only Gary O'Connor's one-man show of defiance kept the score within reasonable limits,but the sad fact is that Rangers have lost all six fixtures on the road this season and are haemorrhaging more than three goals per game on their travels.Make no bones about it,that's relegation form,and the chairman's promise of desperately needed new blood in the January transfer window could come too late to save Rangers unless they experience a sudden upturn in form.

Despite their 2-0 defeat at Shielfield earlier in the season,Airdrie looked a decent outfit and their recent lack of form and the resultant pressure on manager Kenny Black seemed at odds with the quality of their playing staff.Bent on confounding their critics,the Diamonds were quickly out of the blocks and Stuart Noble forced Gary O'Connor into the first of a series of excellent saves after catching the Gers defence cold in the 4th minute.Two minutes later,Russell played in Noble again but O'Connor was once more equal to the task.Gemmell relieved the early pressure by using his pace to scare an occasionally leaden-footed home rearguard,but Smyth rescued the situation with a textbook tackle.With 17 minutes gone,Rangers cracked,Russell heading home Waddell's pinpoint cross.Gemmell threatened again a minute later,but normal service was quickly resumed and O'Connor denied Russell again and McDonald in quick succession.

With Rangers back four of Lennox,Horn (replaced by Bolo in the 25th minute),Smith and Noble under constant pressure and their midfield unable to retain possession for long enough to relieve the siege,there was a certain inevitability about Airdrie adding to their lead,which they duly did in the 34th minute.Waddell deftly set up the impressive Noble to execute a sharp turn and killer finish beyond the helpless O'Connor to double Airdrie's advantage.By now the triumvirate of Russell,Noble and Waddell were running riot and when the former was tugged back on another surging break into the box in the 41st minute it gave McKeown the opportunity to bury the resultant penalty beyond O'Connor.Game over,with Rangers' only remaining interest in keeping the score to a relatively respectable level.Their cause was not helped by the early loss of stalwarts Fraser and Horn to injury,but even had they been able to keep their best eleven on the park,Airdrie looked a cut above.

The half-time interval did little to change the flow of the game.One-way traffic continued and O'Connor did his Rorke's Drift thing again in the 53rd minute,clawing Donnelly's flashing header around the post before conceding a fourth goal in the 61st minute,McKeown grabbing a second after the Rangers defence was eviscerated by a brilliant pass from midfield.With Airdrie home and hosed and taking their foot off the gas with less than half an hour remaining,Rangers finally managed to threaten the home goal when sub Bolo's header deflected off Robertson's bar,though Prunty also hit the woodwork for the Diamonds in the 73rd minute after O'Connor blocked a Russell shot.O'Connor denied McKeown a deserved hat-trick minutes before the final whistle.

For Rangers,as a popular silver haired postar warbled a few years back,the only way is up.Michael Renwick needs time to impose his own management style on the team and he will have seen enough on Saturday to know where his priorities lie,but the imminent departure of the talented Danny Swanson will leave big gap to fill and the suspicion has to be that Renwick will find himself preparing for a sharp exit from the Third Division rather than consolidation in the Second.A paltry travelling support of 19 fans,one of the lowest at any away fixture in recent years,made clear what Rangers supporters think about the direction their team is taking.

O'Connor 9;Lennox 5;Horn 4;Smith 4;Noble 4;McLeish 5;Fraser 4;Swanson 5;Diack 4;Gemmell 6;Little 5.

Crowd - 850

Airdrie United vs Berwick Rangers

Michael Renwick takes his new team through to New Broomfield tomorrow afternoon to face the only team in the league we have beaten this season. Team news? Erm...check the Daily Record in the morning!

Hold on to your hats - if you are travelling through to Airdrie tomorrow, you will have the pleasure of paying a staggering £15 per adult. Ouch. I recently bought a return flight to Riga in Latvia for a similar amount!

If you are looking for a place to go for a pre-match pint, head for Cue Here in Airdrie town centre. I have had a couple of e-mails from the manager of the pool hall, offering warm hospitality and free pies! A free pie? Got to be worth a look...

Referee: Anthony Law
Weather: High chance of rain
Bluesq betting: Airdrie 4/7, Berwick 4/1, Draw 13/5

More on Michael Renwick

I've done some digging...

Well we've had a couple of days to digest the latest goings on at Sheilfield Park. Most of the people that I have spoken to have simply asked "who is he?". He may be relatively unknown to Berwick fans, but he is known amongst those in Leith and Cowdenbeath.

He seems to be quite highly regarded in lower league football - as a coach. A few Stenny fans on Pie & Bovril have said that his season with them as a player was at best, average. But there have been a few Cowden fans posting, saying that he is an all round nice guy and highly rated as a coach. But does a good coach always make a good manager? Short answer: no. Look at Brian Kidd, he had a huge hand at bringing on players such as Giggs, Scholes and Beckham. He was a terrible manager.

Above: Michael Renwick - yes it is a Photoshop super-imposed image!

Okay that is just one example, but get my point. I just hope this example doesn't apply to Renwick. From what he has said already in the press, he is an ambitious guy, hoping to go far as a manager and has admitted that the job at Berwick is the first step on his managerial ladder.

At only 31 he is starting out early, infact he is one of the youngest ever Berwick managers (perhaps the youngest, I'm too lazy to research it!). It is unclear whether or not he will be involved as a player too. I've always thought that a player-manager role simply doesn't work. Apart from Dave Smith, I'm struggling to think of a successful example.

A little bit about Michael Renwick....
Michael began his football career at boys club Hutchison Vale at the age of 15. He was signed as an apprentice a year later by Hibs before being offered professional terms a short while later. He spent 8 years at Easter Road and played under the likes of Alex Miller and current Scotland manager Alex McCleish. He played less than 50 games in those 8 years, before moving on to Ayr United in May 2000.

Reports suggest he didn't really settle at Somerset Park, he had two loans spells at Cowden and Morton during his Ayr career. He must have impressed at Central Park as Cowden signed him from Ayr for the following season. His records show he was out of football for two seasons (03/04 and 04/05). He signed for Stenny in May 05 and played 26 games in the 05/06 season before taking up a coaching post under Mixu Paatelainen at Cowden last year.

He was highly rated at Cowden and is seen as a bit of a nice guy too. He certainly seems to have lots of experience at every level of the game. And he has worked under some good managers in McLeish, Miller and more recently Paatelainen. He came to Berwick highly recommended from people in football and fought off competition from two other applicants to land the job, fingers crossed he can spark a Shielfield revolution...

New Manager Announced - Michael Renwick

The club last night announced the appointment of Michael Renwick as manager. There is an interview with Michael on the official website.

Who is Michael Renwick? That is what most people I have spoken to this morning have asked me. And to be honest, I couldn't tell them - Hibs did ring a bell and so did Alloa for some reason. He was at Easter Road for a few years after graduating from Hutchy Vale, but he was never at Alloa!

He had spells at Ayr and Morton before signing for Cowden and then taking a coaching role at Central Park.

The club have their official speil on their own website. Berwick Rangers chairman Robert Wilson said: "I am delighted to announce the appointment of our new manager Michael Renwick who joins Berwick from his coaching role at Cowdenbeath.

"Our immediate aim for the remainder of the season is to remain in the second division. We currently have a first team squad of 20 with Mark Stevenson joining from the reserve squad.
"Danny Swanson will move to Dundee United in January leaving us with 19 first team players. The new manager will have a budget to bring in two to three players during the January transfer window and hopefully a run in the Scottish Cup will generate extra funds to allow us to sign additional players.

"The bulk of the transfer fees we have received for Kevin Haynes, Gary Greenhill and Danny Swanson will be used to clear the overdraft with the bank to leave the club virtually debt free.
"When I took over as chairman nearly five years ago the liabilities of this club where in excess of £150,000 and I am very proud of our current financial situation. There has been a reduction in our playing staff budget but the club could not sustain the wages that were being paid two or three years ago.

"As I mentioned earlier it is very important that we keep our second division status this year as it will be a massive to boost to start next season with no debt which would allow us to invest more money in the playing squad and help with ongoing maintenance of Shielfield Park. I hope that all supporters will get behind our new manager and the players as you can play a massive part in the remainder of this season."

Seems like a rather strange appointment, but what ever we all think of the board's choice, we must back Renwick from the start. We also have to be patient - he is just starting out in management. That said, time is something we haven't got. We now need to go on a good run and pick up some points, starting at Airdrie on Saturday.

Lee Makel?

There have been a few stories in the press claiming Lee Makel will be the next Berwick manager. The Daily Record and Scottish Star have both ran the story, which was picked up by the BBC News website. The Livingston midfielder has been allowed to talk to Berwick chairman Robert Wilson about the possibility of taking over as player-manager.

Makel certainly has the required experience, with stints at Newcastle, Blackburn, Hearts, Bradford and Dunfermline. He has alloted over half a million pounds in transfer fees too.

The two questions that pop in to my head are:
1. Can we afford him?
2. It is worth risking taking on someone with no managerial experience?

For Makel to come to Berwick he would have to take a dramatic pay cut. I'd guess Livi are paying the majority of their players around £1k per week. We on the other hand were probably paying John Coughlin less than half that. Taking on someone with no experience as a manager is a risky business - but from time to time it can really pay off. Cowden's appointment of Craig Levien springs to mind. Another added bonus would be Makel's connections, he'd probably be able to unearth some transfer deals we would otherwise miss out on.

No official word from the club yet, so I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Pee is the fans choice!

Well you have been voting in your, er, droves in my poll. Current leader of the pack is the Grandfather of Shielfield Park, Ian Oliver (pictured above with John Hughes). 'Pee' has had every job title possible at Berwick, but never full-time manager (despite being reserve manager and caretaker manager!).

The more serious contenders are Micky Lawson (16%) and Ian Oliver son's, Neil, who has 11% of the votes. Keep the votes coming in!

A letter from Matt Kerr...

Ex-assistant manager Matt Kerr has emailed me over the weekend, with some kind words to thank every Berwick fan for the support he and John Coughlin received during their time at the club.


Dear Berwick fans,
I would like to thank you for all the support you gave us in our time at Berwick, I will never forget the games when, out numbered, you sang louder and cheered us on to many victories, we the staff loved it and so did the players. The day we won the Championship was fantastic I am very proud to be part of Berwick’s history. You lot deserved it after the agony of the season before I wish you all the best for the rest of the season and I hope you have plenty to cheer about. Thanks again, Berwick will always be in my heart.
Matt Kerr (Assistant Manager, ex)

I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say to Matt, thank you for giving us some good times to cheer. Cheers Matt.

Cowdenbeath 3-1 Berwick Rangers

Nae luck...

They say that when you are bottom of the league, luck is always against you. Well on Saturday we had that to contend with, along with Cowden's Pat Clark.

The ex-Berwick striker broke the deadlock 22 minutes from time, but we hit back through Diack, after he had just missed a penalty. Robbie Horn then hit the post before Clark put Cowden ahead again in the 80th minute and rubbed salt into the wounds in injury time, with a third goal.

Cowden deserved to win and Berwick were left to rue that missed penalty, which could have made all the difference.

Cowdenbeath vs Berwick Rangers

Caretaker manager Jimmy Crease will be looking to guide us to our first win at Cowden since September 2005. We haven't played for a fortnight so hopefully the players have had a chance to re-group. It will be interesting to see if Jimmy is going to make any changes to John Coughlin's way of playing, I doubt it.

If you are heading to Central Park and fancy wetting your whistle pre-match, I have always found the New Goth to be very welcoming, it is just under the railway bridge on the high street. Think of the Free Trade in Berwick and you'll get an idea of what it is like!

We are always up for Cowden, onwards and upwards!

Bluesq: Cowden 4/6, Draw 5/2, Berwick 10/3
Referee: Scott MacDonald
Head to head: Cowden 51, Draw 28, Berwick 46

Manager Latest

The speculation goes on...

Rumour has it that Alloa's youth coach, Hugh McCann, turned down a job offer from BRFC during the week. From what I have heard, Hugh is unable to take on such a big role at a football club due to personal reasons. He was very tempted by the offer, however he will remain at Recreation Park.

I have heard from a reliable source that the board are now not rushing to make a quick appointment. It may even be a couple of weeks before we hear any news. McCann would have been a pretty solid appointment, with his experience at the top level with Hearts and his time in the lower leagues with the likes of Shire and Alloa. He is the kind of guy who would have been able to steady the rocking ship.

One man we can now rule out is Campbell Money, who has taken the reigns at junior outfit Cumnock, where he will be assisted by ex-Hamilton forward, Darren Henderson.

The question I keep asking myself is this: who would want the job? There are plenty football guys out there who are looking for a club, but what could we offer them? We are bottom of the league, we have very little money to bring in new players, we are losing our best player in January, attendances at Shielfield are steadily declining and who ever comes will have to contend with the same issues that caused Coff to leave. That said, who ever comes in will be in a no lose situation - we are already bottom of the league, so if we finish any higher than tenth it will be a better position than where Coughlin left us.


Speaking of Coff, Berwick fan and author of 'Mission Impossible' Chris Sanderson went along to Stenny's training last night to speak to Coughlin and to get a publicity picture. Chris reports that John is happy to be at Stenny and wishes everyone back in Berwick all the best.

I will be bringing you Saturday's team news later on today.

Championship Book

After four months of hard work, the Supporters Trust are almost ready to release Mission Impossible - the book which celebrates our Championship success in May. Written by Berwick fan and Trust member Chris Sanderson, the book covers two contrasting seasons (05/06 and 06/07) at Shielfield Park, taking quotes and comments from players, management and fans. There is also a 24 page full colour season, with pictures from games throughout the 06/07 season.

Pictured above is author Chris Sanderson and defender Jordan Smith.

Priced at just £9.99, this is going to be something every Berwick fan will want to have on their bookshelve. And with a limited print run of only 1,000 copies, make sure you grab your copy quick!

The book is expected to be out at the end of next month, in plenty time for Christmas. As soon as I hear of an official release date and book signing, I'll let you know!

Berwick Advertiser Letter

This morning's Berwick Advertiser ran a letter from one 'Robert Hogg' of Edinburgh.

Jimmy Crease in charge for Cowden

The club's official website site has helped to shed some light on the manager situaton. A new manager is unlikely to be in place for our visit to Cowdenbeath this Saturday: "The search for a new manager is still on going. It is very important that we find the right person for the job and it is now unlikely that a new manager will be in charge for Saturday. Jimmy Crease will continue to act as caretaker manager until we find a suitable replacement for John Coughlin."

It is no secret that the board met on Tuesday night, it is likely that they had someone lined up to take charge this week, but couldn't agree terms. So the search goes on.

Spartans manager Mickey Lawson has more or less ruled himself out in the local Edinburgh press this week - so I'm told.

Lets have a look at all the possible contenders:

MICKEY LAWSON - more or less ruled himself out in the press this week.

HUGH McCANN - ex-Shire manager, currently at Alloa doing a good job with the youths. He may be ready to step back into management.

BRIAN FAIRLEY - currently out of management, and has been for over two years. Seems to have done a reasonable job at Stenny before he fell out with the board in 2001. The current favourite for the job.

NEIL OLIVER - very unlikely that Ollie will consider the job, mainly due to work and family commitments. He is happy enough lending a hand to the youths.

JIM CHAPMAN - more recently at Albion Rovers, where he had them playing good attacking football. Would be a good choice.

CAMPBELL MONEY - a man with more clubs than Tiger Woods, this guy has been all over Scottish football in recent years. Not the answer.

DICK CAMPBELL - left Ross County last month after only 5 months in charge. He was doing well in Dingwall before a major fall out with director of football George Adams. It is unlikely Dick will move back in to part time football.

IAN LITTLE/GARY O'CONNOR - both of these guys are at the stage of their careers where they will be thinking about management. Appointing someone from within the club would probably be a bad idea, we need new enthusiasm and fresh ideas from someone new.

THE OUTSIDE BETS - Eric Tait, Jimmy Crease, Pee, Jose Mourinho.

Who ever we get in, they have a massive pair of shoes to fill. John Coulghlin was one of the greatest managers we will ever see standing in the Berwick dug-out. He obviously thought he was unable to lift the club with the players and resources at his disposal, so what chance has a new guy got?