Slipmat

Is Nditi suspended for this game? We may only have one fit centre back available if he is.

This is spot on. I would also throw our style of play and AJ's approach to matches into the mix. Yesterday was a prime example - we were playing a cup tie against a part time team from a lower league and went into the game with a set up you would expect to see if we were playing a top 4 EPL side. Two deep lying midfielders playing virtually the same role on the edge of our own penalty area means our attacking players had to come back deep to get the ball and then have no-one to play the ball forward to. We rely totally on the opposition giving the ball away and hitting them on the break, or getting lucky from a set piece. If we do score, we then form a 9 man defence, camp on the edge of our box and look to have no intention of scoring again - even if the scores are level. Even our keeper has clearly been instructed not to play the ball long unless absolutely necessary. We know from the experience of the League Cup and the first couple of league matches that we have players who can play attractive football but AJ seems to fear all opponents and has adopted the old Walter Smith/Alex McLeish style of anti-football we became used to suffering in Rangers European games in 90% of matches. The "Get intae them" chant is no longer relevant - it should be replaced with "get intae their half". It is a tortuous spectacle to endure and is not a product I'm prepared to pay £18 to watch.

If the Horror Channel is interested we'll be box office gold.

To save any of us watching the post match interview, I can reveal it will contain the following phrases in no particular order: Difficult place to come They are a good team packed with experienced ex-premier league players Conditions made it difficult Individual errors Bad decision making Need to defend better as a team The following phrases will not be included: We were too negative from the first minute to the last The team was set up with a view to not getting beaten - not to win the game The midfield need to support the forward(s) when we are in possession That was my fault

Yes and no respectively in an ideal world. No and yes in the boardroom though I'm betting.

Aye, we're going to have to see this out with just the 8 defenders.

I've absolutely no idea if our goal was valid thanks to the technological wonders of Pixellot. Scott Davie saw a replay which we aren't being treated to. That said, we are awful to watch anyway and there wasn't much there aside from the goal that I'd want to replay. We, unfortunately, are just as shambolic as Pixellot cameras. Ten men behind the ball whenever Cove are in possession and Ally Roy the only player near or in the opposition half meaning we have no outball. Only one winner here unless we show some ambition. At least the fans who have made the trip sound like they have oiled themselves up to compensate for the conditions - good on them

Another week, same old complaints from me I'm afraid. Sitting way too deep, non existent midfield, isolated strikers, hit and hope stuff.

The only thing that will prevent AJ selecting his boy ahead of Todd is if Max is injured, or the highly unlikely situation that Motherwell don't want him cup-tied. Week in, week out if and when the midfield aren't performing well Max gets 90 minutes while every other midfielder takes turns to get hooked before being benched the week after. I'd like to see Connelly playing in the hole behind a front two of Roy and Paton but AJ seems to think Cameron up top on his own is the answer to our goalscoring problem. (It isn't). I have to say that I've rarely felt less excited about a QOS Scottish Cup tie and have mixed feelings about how I'd like it to go. Win, and we have chance of a moneyspinning draw but AJ stinks the place out for a bit longer... lose, and he HAS to go, no ifs, no buts.

We'd probably have fewer injuries.

So going by the last two home games, crowds are down by about 200 since the beginning of the season. Something is rotten in the state of Palmerston.

It's very telling that, unless I've missed something, absolutely nobody has come to AJ's defence. Even toward the end of the tenures of Naysmith, Gus and Iain Scott you would still hear the odd happy clapper saying "give him x number of weeks" or "wait to see who he brings in in the next transfer window" but on this occasion it seems to be a unanimous opinion amongst fans that he's got to go and the sooner the better. I don't know if the board read comments on forums, but if they don't then I would be hoping that the SLOs are making them aware of the mood of the fans. This is a test which will prove just how much of a community club that has the interests of the fans at heart Queen of the South FC actually is, and is also an indicator as to what expectations and ambitions the board have regarding the club's position in Scottish football. If they are accepting relegation, they need only look to Falkirk to see how being a supposed big fish in a wee pond doesn't guarantee success. We've been shat on before with the Sevco vote and the pathetic apology for the Galloway shambles, surely Billy & Co can't be seen to be failing to read the room again. ETA - if the board come across as being apathetic, is it any wonder that the supporters become apathetic and drift away?

Great post.

On the one hand I can cut the board some slack as they have backed AJ by allowing him to assemble a bigger squad than we normally operate with - by my estimation we have maybe five additional first team players more than we have had in a squad since Ian McCall was in charge. On the other hand the board made the frankly ridiculous decision to hand a two year contract to a manager who was only a few days short of going a full calendar year without a win. The cracks were papered over thanks to a good run over the period of 8 or 9 games (helped by the arrival of some good loan signings) but the slump over the final third of last season should have rang warning bells to the board that AJ is not the sort of manager to be handing out 2 year contracts to. One of my biggest frustrations this season has been that a team who started with promise has been tinkered with to the extreme to accommodate loanees. Of the four, only Brynn has shown why he should be in the starting eleven, and he in all likelihood wouldn't have been here had it not been for Rae's injury, but the introduction Max, Liddle and Cameron has been detrimental and for some unknown reason those three are way ahead of the likes of Roy, Todd and East in the pecking order. You can't fault Cameron for effort, but Roy was averaging a goal a game before his injury whereas Cameron isn't scoring or linking up play to any great effect whatsoever. We also have Debayo making continual mistakes leading to goals playing every game while East, who has been just as competent in the same role, doesn't get a chance and Dunn has been punted out on loan to the Lowland league when he's looked no worse than Debayo. We also have Chima who has a mystery injury which has led to him disappearing completely - but why sign a guy who had been out of the game for over a year on a two year deal? I suspect that at best AJ will be given 3 more league games taking us to the season's half way mark, but if he doesn't get 6 points minimum from those games he will be gone. It won't have gone unnoticed in the boardroom that 3 of our 4 relegation rivals have changed managers already this season, and it's surely just club finances that are keeping ours in a job.