KingfaetheSooth

Not really sure, mate. FCUM are part-time, have had some problems and I believe their budget is much reduced. I’d be suprised if he’s on much more than say £500 per week.

Bob Harris signs for FC United of Manchester. Still only 31 and could possibly do a job at a higher level. Scored some cracking goals for Queens. http://www.fc-utd.co.uk/story.php?story_id=8258

Disagree. Even if there's has been no progress, it would be good to update the wider fanbase on things like major infrastructure projects every so often. You can never communicate enough. Even saying there has been no progress due to the economic climate. No doubt it will be raised at the Club's AGM. Any idea when the AGM is likely to be? Skyline? I thought the regular Board update from Mark Blount was a step in the right direction, but seems a while since the last one.

Has there been any progress on the club’s ‘World of Sport’ idea that was worked up a couple of years back? Has it been shelved or parked? Failing that, any news on a new stand in place of the old stand? Seems a while since we had a Board update from Messr. Blount Jr. on the club’s website. Does that still happen?

Ordered the centenary shirt earlier this week, arrived this morning. First class service, thanks to the club and all involved. The Centenary shirt is excellent, a great idea, very well executed. Only took me thirty minutes to find my name.

Anyone know, how far down the road, Dobbie has got with his coaching badges? I assume he's well short of Level 5 (UEFA Pro)? Skyline?

Agree with all of that. It would be interesting to see how Queens fared against the likes of Sutton or Bo's. Sutton have been on the rise in recent years with their manager putting in significant wads of cash to the playing budget. A game against them would be a decent challenge, though they were arguably a stronger team a season or two back, so Queens would be strong favourites IMO. At this stage of the competition, getting through to the next round is all that counts as it would be good to win the competition in the centenary season.

Queens away to either Sutton or Bohemians in the next round please, assuming that East Fife are put to the sword. Connah's Quay or Coleraine would also be a decent away trip. Now watch Queens get beat by the Fifers or draw Motherwell or St Mirren under-21's in the next round.

Is there a free to watch interview or audio with Jobbie McCall following the humping by Queen of the South? Asking for a friend.

Do Scottish clubs require International clearance when registering new/loan players from abroad with the SFA? If so, imagine that this can be a bit time consuming and laborious to arrange, especially with smaller foreign associations. Is there any difference to signing the young lad from Vancouver Whitecaps due to his Scottish father and background? Bugbear of mine, after AFC Wimbledon have twice fallen foul of the rules with the English FA having been deducted points for the above.

The former I think. Egg-ly. His parents own a fish and chip shop in South London. Down to earth lad who will work hard to make it. Proud of his Albanian roots as his under-21 caps show. Potential to improve massively from what I’ve heard. Rated by the staff at AFCW, hence the new contract and loan.

Interesting signing. Wimbledon have high hopes for Kaja but he’s not going to get enough game time in L1 this coming season. He’s a strong lad with pace who needs to improve his decision making and confidence. He’ll always give 100% and is a player who shows the determination to go a long way in the game. Good luck to him.

At this rate, Dobbie will have second top goal scorer of all time wrapped up by the end of September. Legend.

My mistake, I actually follow the club IG account, as well. No posts since 28th April. I agree that a PR/communication/call it whatever you like strategy is much bigger than just social media. That's why I was suggesting that as a first step, one of the existing Directors should be tasked with improving things. I know we've gone round these houses before, but needs to encompass things like CRM, ticketing, marketing etc. etc. As ever, the cry will be no money available, but that doesn't mean that things can't be looked at and potentially improved.

Might be possible to improve things without spending money though. Simple things like making sure (as discussed above), whenever and wherever a signing takes place, a photo is taken (on a phone if necessary) and appears on social media and the OS. Start a club Instagram account. Queens must be one of the few full-time clubs that doesn't have an account. Make one of the Directors responsible for developing a communications and social media strategy. Mark Blount maybe? I only pick him as he's the only person that ever seems to communicate digitally with the fans. Lots of companies might be interested in having their name linked with the clubs social media feed as an example. Even if they might not pay cash, it could be offered as a lesser prize during the shirt draw. Also, how about inviting local businesses to games with a couple of free tickets in the Directors Box for each home game to give them a flavour of the club and provide networking opportunities. A Queen of the South business club, if you like. Sometimes in business, you have to speculate to accumulate and take risks to grow the business/club. At the moment, it appear from the outside, that Queens is run by bean counters and business people who are rightly ultra cautious with money, but lacking any creativity or knowledge on how to grow the club by trying new things. I'm not beating up those in charge for the sake of it, who seem to be good people with the club's interest at heart, but suggesting there could and should be improvements and new thinking occasionally.

Totally agree. The PR/social media role needs to be in house, but I imagine there is no money in the budget for such a role and little or no existing expertise within the Board/club. I get the argument that the role could pay for itself with partnerships, advertising, sponsorship, more fans through the gates etc etc, but I doubt the Chairman who seems to call most of the shots and runs a 'tight ship' has any experience of this and would not be convinced of the benefits with potential new revenue streams. I assume the existing Press Officer role (Sandra Brown) is voluntary? She does an OK job with post match interviews, though they tend to be a bit boring/repetitive IMHO, but not sure she would have the relevant experience or time for a bigger role encompassing social media, PR and the like. I seem to recall when Bill Goldie was Press Officer, he used to have to go round to the old fermers house with a notebook and pen. What we have at the moment, is very poor for a full-time club. The players may be full-time, but many of the off-the- field operations still seem to be very much part-time and antiquated.

I don't think it feasible to deal in facts in such matters. You said "most likely" yourself. Good point about Tosh and Macfarlane. Without opening up the "training in the central belt" debate, attracting players has often been difficult for Queens due to location. Always thought there was a market for a book looking at Gretna's fall and demise and how it impacted Scottish football. I realise the was a TV programme and a Gretna book circa 2005, but there has not been anything more definitive as far as I'm aware.

There's an argument that Gretna and their subsequent implosion was instrumental in giving Queens the impetus to be more successful and compete at a higher level and indeed raise the clubs' profile locally and nationally. The fans came together in a way that they have possibly not done before or since and I'm sure that Gretna trying to poach fans from Dumfries with the likes of free tickets via their community programme also made the custodians of the club more determined to take the club forward building on the work of Norman Blount. Was certainly interesting times.

Deary me, that latest interview from Naysmith is absolutely shocking. I hope someone pulls him up on it at the AGM tomorrow, assuming he’s going. Criticising the fans who do pay their hard earned cash is never acceptable in my opinion. Here you go mate..... BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Where is this being reported? They agreed last year that they could do this for midweek games (i.e. still respecting the UEFA Blackout periods) when they announced the new Sky deal. Are they now saying they are allowing Saturday 3pm games to be streamed? If they do then the games a bogey - it won't be long before other, bigger clubs demand the same. Not sure that anything other than the midweek games has been agreed. Would have thought that any changes would come in as part of a new deal. The EFL clubs are meeting this week, but don't think this is on the agenda. On the question of streaming midweek games, one of the things that has worked well in L1 & L2 is beamback to the away club. The home club gets a fixed fee to compensate for loss of revenue and the away club streams the game in their bars, hospitality areas to make money. This might work well in Scotland if the investment, technology etc was in place. For example, if Queens were away in the central belt midweek, they could charge fans in Dumfries say a tenner with pies and peas thrown in and make a bit of cash. Not sure what the uptake of this would be, but maybe a hundred fans is possible. This would bring in £1000 plus bar sales and might work for clubs like Queens?

I asked earlier and nobody could tell me why the current Chairman and Board are not connecting with the businesses and people in D&G. For all their faults, Rae and Blount senior had an element of charisma and seemed to hav a rapport with fans and locals for a while. One of the issues might be that we no longer have an experienced full-time Commercial team. JT and his ex-wife had their successes and failures but were at least tried to make things happen. Is the young lad, Dan Armstrong, still charged with heading up the club's commercial operation or does it fall to someone else? The key question that should be asked of the Board at the forthcoming AGM, is what is the plan for the future growth of the football club. Is there a plan to rebuild the new stand and get more revenue streams? They have done well with the Arena and KGV, is this working as well as it can or is there scope for more income? How about a Queen of the South business club where local businesses and individuals can network together? This works well elsewhere and can be a good avenue for building contacts and ultimately revenue.

That just leaves the ex-Franchise manager, Neilson available. He did a wonderful job at MK (in getting them towards the relegation spots) and would be a good shout for next manager at Queens if the job was available.

Not being in the Dumfries business bubble, I'm genuinely interested why regular Queens fans including several wealthy local businessmen will not enter Palmerston or spend money on shirt draw sponsorship, hospitality etc. while the current Chairman is in post. I understand the politics, competition, jealousy etc. that can go hánd in hand with running a business and you obviously can't be liked by all, not to mention cronyism and the like, but, without being libelous, would you care to elaborate? Having digested the accounts, it seems Queens are unable to fund full-time football for the medium term without either additional revenue streams or a benefactor. Some tough decisions are going to have to be made in the next few years. Personally, I'd like to see the club set up as a community trust where local business people and the wider fan base work together for the community. This model has its drawbacks but may be the best solution. Dos anyone know if the 'World of Sport' development being proposed by the Board and the bloke from the Crichton Trust is still a viable proposition?

Not really a centre forward, but if Cochy is being mentioned, I'd have to include his peer, Ted McMinn. One of the most skilful players to have played for Queens in the modern era who only cost £325 and 1000 Queens lottery tickets. What a bargain! Primarily a wide player, but could certainly do a job up top and was about 6 feet tall. Lochside boy as well. Changing subject, anyone know why there have not been any match highlights on the OS or the QOSTV youtube page for a good while? Skyline? (not moaning, just want to see them as it's a much appreciated service that I imagine is carried out by volunteer(s). )

I've seen the Dobmeister's latest hat-trick on tw@tter, is it available anywhere else? Linky?