[The Magic Moose]

Perhaps not 2 points dropped because I thought Albion deserved something today but we should have killed the game off after we went 2-1 up as we had stirling on the ropes at that stage. Instead we sat back and allowed them back into the game. Thought big Sean was outstanding today and Dobbie responded well to being dropped to the bench with a superbly taken goal. Stirling's second was also a good strike.

[Beano 3:16]

Any Queens/Beanos fans at the game

Another point, so can't be too bad, only two defeats. Hopefully first three points next week against Clyde, but it will certainly no be an easy game. Although I did see they had two men sent off.

Match report someone please.

[Beano 3:16]

Typical - just as I start a thread asking if anyone was at the game.

[ConanTheLibrarian]

A very reserved post compared to some of the P1sh posted on the MAD site.Thought we responded well in the second half and got a deserved equaliser through big Sean and an equally deserved lead through a great finish from Dobbie.For some reason we resorted to our usual tactics of sitting back and let the opposition take control for the last part of the game,resulting in the inevitable equaliser 2 minutes from time.Usual pass marks IMO to O'connor,McQuilken and Big JT.Contrary to many opinions I thought Tosh played well,Gilmour ,Paton and Scally did ok(although Paton posted missing for the first goal) and McDonald in goal.Bingham just doesn't do it for me I'm afraid,don't want to criticise the guy but his heart just isn't in it.Hopefully things will click a bit better next week and they can raise their game against the Pars.Mon the Queens.

[StewartyMac]

Beano 3:16, on Sep 29 2007, 18:51, said:

Typical - just as I start a thread asking if anyone was at the game.

Merged for you now buddy.

[kirkyblue2]

ConanTheLibrarian, on Sep 29 2007, 19:01, said:

A very reserved post compared to some of the P1sh posted on the MAD site.

What pish is that, the fact we have a clueless manager and an even clueless BOD who hired him.

"Hands up who wants to be manager"

[Raving On]

The Magic Moose, on Sep 29 2007, 18:47, said:

Perhaps not 2 points dropped because I thought Albion deserved something today but we should have killed the game off after we went 2-1 up as we had stirling on the ropes at that stage. Instead we sat back and allowed them back into the game. Thought big Sean was outstanding today and Dobbie responded well to being dropped to the bench with a superbly taken goal. Stirling's second was also a good strike.

Pretty accurate summation of things in my view. We were very very comfortable in the first half; granted our goal was a breakaway but Queen's rarely threatened as our tactics were to sit deep and soak the pressure up. It worked very well in my view, there was only a header from Tosh (?) that flashed wide but otherwise we were rarely troubled. Thought Gilmour looked the most troublesome player in blue in the first half.

Losing a goal so early in the second half was galling considering how easy we'd had it in the first. It was also the first time the defence had really pushed up and was caught by O'Connor, who took his goal well. Immediately after the goal we were denied a penalty of the stonewall variety as Easton crossed the ball the big number 6 moves his arm and blocked the ball. I can't believe we didn't get that decision; probably the first truly game changing decision that's gone against us this season.

From that moment Queen's dominated and deserved their second, although Hogarth was hardly making save after save. Again it was a cheap goal to lose from our point of view.

Moore made a switch away from 4-5-1 to 3-5-2 which seemed to work although whether this simply coincided with Queen's sitting back we'll never know. John Paul McBride suddenly got involved after 70 minutes doing very little, Lilley, Bell and others all had probing efforts at the home goal and we looked generally more lively. That said it was still surprising when JPM curled in the equaliser at the death.

I can see why Queen's fans feel as though its two points lost for them but we played well enough to gain a point from the match, we may well have had more if we hadn't started the second half so badly.

Referee pissed me off with a general lack of consistency; Easton booked in the first half for his first foul of the game (although the referee pointed to 4 other spots around the park!?) whereas moments before O'Connor had got away with a late tackle that was probably about as bad, giving a foul shy for an Albion player stealing a handful of yards in his own half but not doing so on two occasions when Queen's players did likewise in similar situations. In general I felt we were pretty hard done by and I'm not including the penalty we didn't get - to be fair even if we had scored it would still probably have ended as a draw.

[Palmerston_1919]

Absolute mince yet again.

First half was one of the worst at home i have seen for along time. Looked as if some of our players (if not all) had thought they were down at the park for a saturday afternoon kick about with their mates, they certainly didnt look like a first division outfit.

Was Andy Aitken at the game today? If so he must be wondering what the hell is going on if Chisholm think McGowan is a better defender than him, i really feel for the big guy. McGowan is hopeless, far too small and dives in too often, if he was Airdrie's player of the year last year its no wonder they went down. Never thought i'd see myself say this but i cant wait for Lauchlan to come back!

Looked as if Chisholm followed some of our advice and went back to the diamond formation. I think thats certainly the way to go but the four in midfield seemed completely disinterested. Gilmour did ok but there's lots more to come from him i feel, hope Chisholm persists with him, if he's any sense he will (therefore he'll probably picking up splinters next week). Tosh was rubbish as per usual (cue all the posts saying he's not fit, carrying an injury etc. Bollocks - he just doesnt care). And McFarlane is a complete waste of a jersey, he saunters around the pitch at a leisurely pace achieving nothing, get him punted at Christmas. Was Burnsy injured? Pretty strange to see him drop right out, at least you know what you'll get from him.

O'Connor was immense again. Great finish this week, a lot harder than some of his chances last week and generally tormented their defence, lets hope the surgeon does a good job on his knee because without him we are going to pick up little, if any, point at all. Dobbie showed the peopel who have been calling for him to be dropped exactly why he should play every week. What other player in our squad is capable of nutmeging one player ghosting past another and burying it in the bottom corner liek that? He better start next week. Bingham? - not even going to waste time talking about him. joke.

Rumour at the ground today was that Mole has been sent back to Hearts? If true that leaves us with an injured striker, one who's mince and Dobbie. Things do not look good.

On a positive note, the new scarves from the shop looked good. However, if they want to make some serious money they should start a line of Gordon Chisholm Voodoo dolls so we can all release the tension after the game.

Edited to add: Thought Stirling deserved a point for their efforts, at least you have a manager who can apply tactics to a game. Good luck for the rest of the season.

This post has been edited by Palmerston_1919: 29 September 2007 - 18:26

[ConanTheLibrarian]

kirkyblue2, on Sep 29 2007, 19:12, said:

What pish is that, the fact we have a clueless manager and an even clueless BOD who hired him.

"Hands up who wants to be manager"

Precisely!!

[BigRubberFist]

Keystone Cops for Beanos first goal.

Hansen and Miller at the 82 World Cup anyone?

[kirkyblue2]

ConanTheLibrarian, on Sep 29 2007, 19:26, said:

Precisely!!

If you're happy and you know it, clap yer hands.

[queenslad]

A draw would be about right. Stirling came with a game plan (like Scotland in France) playing with a lone striker in first half. They didn't put much pressure on our back four but that only confused us as our defenders had too much space and time on the ball and didn't know what to do with it. Too leisureily at the back with careless passing. Queens up pace in second half and got a just reward. Queens then sat back when Stirling changed to two up front anbd got a just reward. We could all see it coming but why was he given too much space. That is the kind of area and space that McFarlane should be closing down. In last 15mins it was O'Conner who was doing all the closing down getting deeper and deeper.

I'm afraid I'm in camp of thinking McGowan, Tosh, Bingham (thought he was starting to play better when he moved back to midfield), McFarlane and Gilmour had poor games. Why Gilmour was not playing wide and putting in quality balls i don't know. Stirling scored with a strike from 22 yards, when will our players learn to take a pot at goal from that distance. In first half I thought we could have had a few more shots but were too content to try an extra pass or play ball wider.

Don't think subs (O'neil and Robertson) made much of an impact and maybe contributed to our downfall. Dobbie's skill in beating two defenders then side passing ball in bottom corner was the high stop of the game.

It's easy to see how Stirling have lost so few games. A well organised team who were able to adapt and change players and formation when required

[StewartyMac]

queenslad, on Sep 29 2007, 19:37, said:

Stirling came with a game plan (like Scotland in France) playing with a lone striker in first half.

Wasn't there, but I was surprised when I saw the team. It's the first time this season we've played with one up front. and we've already played away to St Johnstone, Dunfermline, and Hamilton.

[ConanTheLibrarian]

Not happy at all,feels like a defeat to me but berating the whole team,management,BOD's,lassies in the pie shop isn't going to help.

[RedWeb]

queenslad, on Sep 29 2007, 19:37, said:

That is the kind of area and space that McFarlane should be closing down.

Yer not wrong. I thought McFarlane was blowing out of his arse for the last 15 minutes and his complete disappearance from the game certainly helped us get back into it. Overall I thought a draw was a fair result with McKenna and O'Connor being the 2 best players on the pitch. It was the first time I've seen O'Connor and I was impressed with the big lad...some refs wouldn't fancy his all action style but it's a man's game so fair enough.

[froggybinos]

RedWeb, on Sep 29 2007, 20:16, said:

Yer not wrong. I thought McFarlane was blowing out of his arse for the last 15 minutes and his complete disappearance from the game certainly helped us get back into it. Overall I thought a draw was a fair result with McKenna and O'Connor being the 2 best players on the pitch. It was the first time I've seen O'Connor and I was impressed with the big lad...some refs wouldn't fancy his all action style but it's a man's game so fair enough.

I 100% agree that its a mans game and even more so was impressed by O Conner. However, his dive with 10 to go inf ront of the Albion fans was nothign sort of embarrassing. In saying that our boy dived in but got no where near O Conner or the ball.

[AlbionMan]

The Magic Moose, on Sep 29 2007, 18:47, said:

Perhaps not 2 points dropped because I thought Albion deserved something today but we should have killed the game off after we went 2-1 up as we had stirling on the ropes at that stage. Instead we sat back and allowed them back into the game. Thought big Sean was outstanding today and Dobbie responded well to being dropped to the bench with a superbly taken goal. Stirling's second was also a good strike.

I felt your mistake was taking Bingo off, he was running it up till then and his departure let McBride strut his stuff for the last 20 minutes.

[Skyline Drifter]

Definitely two points dropped for me though it seems as usual I was at a different game from most.

Thought we started very well and were passing through Stirling very easily in the first quarter hour without ever looking like finding the killer ball or forcing a save out of Hogarth to be fair. Somewhere in there the ref turned down one of the most obvious penalties I've ever seen when the defender took Tosh's legs away in the box when he burst forward. It was SO obvious a penalty that I was already celebrating it when I realised we were still playing. I can't believe he didn't give it.

Needless to say Stirling got out of their half for the first time in 17 minutes, Paton was too deep and played Easton on, McGowan didn't get there, Paton slipped trying to cover, the boy hit it striaght at MacDonald but somehow the ball deflected off the keeper and into the net. A ridiculous goal to lose.

To be fair after that I thought Stirling, whilst understandably hardly pushing forward (why should they?), always looked dangerous on the break and we never looked much like equalising in the first half.

Second half and Bingham (I think) poked Sean through past the offside trap to equalise though the finish was fortunate in that Hogarth dived over it and it went through the covering defender's legs I think. From then on we dominated and should have scored at least once with an O'Connor header (thought we had a lot of success with high balls today, even Scally was continually winning headers in the box) before Dobbie came on. Our second was a thing of beauty, Dobbie took it out of the sky, nutmegged his man and then curled it round Hogarth and in off the post. Superb goal.

We had the odd chance to finish it as a contest but as the last ten ticked on we started to drop far too deep and when McGowan made a pig's ear of a clearance we were sunk though it was still a fine finish from McBride from outside the box I think.

Thought we played quite well at times but there were a few passengers. We really really missed Lauchlan at the back, McGowan sorry to say had a nightmare. I thought Bingham was poor again though he did improve when we got him playing behind the front two after Dobbie came on rather than up top. He's never a forward for me but creating behind he can do a job for us. Gilmour again looks decent on the ball but I'm still waiting for any dangerous product after two months.

[Skyline Drifter]

ConanTheLibrarian, on Sep 29 2007, 19:01, said:

A very reserved post compared to some of the P1sh posted on the MAD site.Thought we responded well in the second half and got a deserved equaliser through big Sean and an equally deserved lead through a great finish from Dobbie.For some reason we resorted to our usual tactics of sitting back and let the opposition take control for the last part of the game,resulting in the inevitable equaliser 2 minutes from time.Usual pass marks IMO to O'connor,McQuilken and Big JT.Contrary to many opinions I thought Tosh played well,Gilmour ,Paton and Scally did ok(although Paton posted missing for the first goal) and McDonald in goal.Bingham just doesn't do it for me I'm afraid,don't want to criticise the guy but his heart just isn't in it.Hopefully things will click a bit better next week and they can raise their game against the Pars.Mon the Queens.

I haven't braved the MAD board yet. I probably won't anytime soon either.

Broadly agree on the players. Thought Tosh was much more effective in that role. There were a few around me giving him pelters but I thought he had his best game for us this season and should certainly have earned an early penalty.

Dobbie showed when he came on exactly why he should be starting every week though maybe he did need a kick up the backside. O'Connor was a clear man of the match up front. JT was solid at the back. Sadly his partner had a nightmare for his first start. We really missed Lauchlan.

Bingham for me can't play up front. He doesn't look to lead a line and looks to pass when he does get the ball. One incident in the first half summed him up for me when he collected a ball over the top and had the chance to run in on goal but looked to lay a ball into Sean instead. The big man almost bent a spectacular effort into the top corner but he should never have been getting the ball there. Bingham had a chance to run in and score. If Bingham is going to have a role here it should be the one Gilmour was doing today. Gilmour again had loads of nice touches on the ball but he's too indirect and has no end product every time.

This post has been edited by Skyline Drifter: 29 September 2007 - 20:24

[Mak QOSFC]

Mak QOSFC is not a happy bunny . Why do we insist on giving up the lead with minutes to go. Our opening game this season against St. Johnstone, numerous times last season including the Queens 4-3 Partick incident. First half was an absolute joke. No defense at Stirlings goal whatsoever. Gifted the ball to Stirling all day. McGowan practically laid off JP McBride for the equaliser. Only good points were O'Connors and J.T.'s performances and Dobbies immaculate finish. Oh, and we also lack pace and width.

[Skyline Drifter]

Raving On, on Sep 29 2007, 19:18, said:

Referee pissed me off with a general lack of consistency; Easton booked in the first half for his first foul of the game (although the referee pointed to 4 other spots around the park!?) whereas moments before O'Connor had got away with a late tackle that was probably about as bad, giving a foul shy for an Albion player stealing a handful of yards in his own half but not doing so on two occasions when Queen's players did likewise in similar situations. In general I felt we were pretty hard done by and I'm not including the penalty we didn't get - to be fair even if we had scored it would still probably have ended as a draw.

I don't agree with all your summary but it's a fair one I suppose from the other point of view.

As for the ref, thought it was Easton's second foul and at that time when refs want to say "right, that's it time to book someone". He was a little unlucky. O'Connor should defnitiely have got a booking for his "I got there as quick as I could" challenge just before that you refer to.

On the foul throw it's not so much that he stole meaningless yards in his own half, but that he was told twice to go back and not do it and ignored it. If you're going to be that stupid then it's his own fault.

I honestly can't recall this handball incident you refer to. But we sure as Hell should have had a penalty after about 10 minutes when Tosh was tripped in the box.

[gogs]

Its 2 points droped in my view but good luck to stirling a draw was probibly about fair thought 1st half stirling looked more up for it tbh never saw the 1st goal as i was at the loo but some people said mcdonald was to blame? sean was quality again today and to think hes no where near fit scored a good goal to level it ang generaly gave the albion defenders all sorts of nightnares goodness knows whats going to happen when he has his opp as he will be badly missed .
Dobbies goal was sheer brilliance to nut meg the defender bean another and slot it away well you cant argue with that superb the late leveler everyone could see comeing as we were sitting so deep and step up mr mgowen for the dunses hat goodness sake man stay on your feet and clear the bloody ball

TBH I thought tosh had not a bad game but mcfarline,bingo and mgowen ohh dear dont even start me on those 3 today we cant play scally and mcfarline in the same team theres no width at all out there either

now dont know whats going on with mole but the boy must be pissed off big time he came here on loan from hearts to get some playing time and hasint had a proper chance and seems to be out of favour alltogether now no one could blame him if he did leave and never botherd comeing back.

[Raving On]

Skyline Drifter, on Sep 29 2007, 21:20, said:

I honestly can't recall this handball incident you refer to. But we sure as Hell should have had a penalty after about 10 minutes when Tosh was tripped in the box.

It doesn't surprise me; the incident was right in front of the Stirling fans with the defender facing the Albion fans too therefore it may not have been seen as an obvious penalty shout from any other part of the ground. The referee was certainly close enough to see it. I do have vague recollections of a moment in the first half where I thought we were maybe a bit lucky to get away with a penalty - maybe it was a case of evening things up.

You're right in that Reid was told to take the throw-in back a couple of yards but why was the referee not doing the same for Queen's players?

To be honest the referee wasn't that bad but its infuriating nevertheless.

[veteran]

The irony of Aitken sitting in the stand watching a thoroughly inept display by McGowan must have struck more than a few fans today.
I hope the absence of Burns today is not an indication that he too has offended the managers dignity.
I'm beginning to doubt Chisholms man management abilities.

[Ray Vaughn]

Skyline Drifter, on Sep 29 2007, 21:07, said:

Somewhere in there the ref turned down one of the most obvious penalties I've ever seen when the defender took Tosh's legs away in the box when he burst forward.

Sorry, mate. I thought it was a dive at the game and that's before I knew Tosh was involved (Tosh has previous in this department)

Anyway, Big Jim Thomson handled the ball in the box when we had a player waiting to receive the ball behind him so they cancel each other out at the end of the day.