Rjc-1988

We started the game poorly and if truth be told could and should have been at least two goals down in the first half. A combination of lacklustre play when in possession and trying to play far too much football deep in our own territory (GK the main culprit continually picking the wrong option). Edinburgh's John Robertson looks a real handful. Thankfully, we looked a different team in the second half and dominated the proceedings from there on. Goals were well taken and some of the link up play was really good. Paton once again was the main man coming up with a vital goal when we really needed it and his general hold up/link up play was first class. The changes made a huge difference - Cochrane did well but Connor Murray was outstanding. Like many others I have been disappointed with his lack of impact but not last night - buzzing about everywhere, dictating the play, struck a great dipping shot and took his goal brilliantly. Anybody can see that Murray has the talent but that ability has to be delivered consistently. Connelly has to do more if he is looking to retain his place.

Much better performance - defended well which is a phrase that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue where Queens are concerned. We pressed the ball much better and no coincidence that this happens when we have two deployed up top ........... which we have been crying out for all season. McKechnie was effective in striker role and put in a great shift. We survived a few scares but deserved the win. It will be interesting to see if we can build on this.

You were every bit as good as us - unfortunately that’s not a compliment.

Totally agree - poor decision making. It is all very well coming out with these “lofty standards” if the rest of the squad were really delivering and keeping Wilson out of the team on merit. Nothing could be further from the truth - yet another truly underwhelming performance against a struggling team low on confidence. Tactics and substitutions leaving a lot to be desired but yet again players not delivering for the umpteenth time.

Let’s put it this way - there are a lot more candidates than Wilson for the “cold shoulder treatment”. His injury record is truly depressing but it is hard to deny that when he does play he invariably performs to a high standard. I have to be honest and say that “solid” is not a word I would ever associate with Dave McKay but everybody sees things differently. Very disappointed with the lack of progress and we are now definitely consigned to facing 8 meaningless games after today.

Failing to beat a team who have only amassed 14 points from 27 games (before today) is truly depressing even by our incredibly low standards. Just as in the Kelty game I thought MB's substitutions were awful - Logan and Cochrane both doing well at least comparatively speaking and hooked with "Bombscare McKay" inexplicably one of the replacements. While we had 2/3 decent half chances apart from our goal Clyde had at least as many decent openings as we had and thankfully 3 of their best chances were skied over the bar from dangerous positions. Most Queens' fans have been lamenting the prolonged absence of Wilson. He shakes off the injury (at least for now), plays in a very good Reserve Team win and then is left sitting on the bench when we were crying out for somebody who could potentially "make a difference".

The win yesterday was important in the sense that it didn’t consign us to 9 meaningless games in Quarter 4. Looking at the table Alloa are the realistic target to try and overhaul but it looks a huge task. If Alloa match their average quarterly points total of 14 in Q4 it will take them to the 56 point mark. In reality we need them to “blow up” and perhaps finish around the 52 point mark leaving us a points target in Q4 of say 18 ……….the equivalent of 6 wins out of 9. Edinburgh surely can’t “bottle it” to the extent that we require so realistically it is Alloa that we need to crumble and hope Airdrie and Montrose don’t do anything exceptional. It will take a monumental change in our fortunes to win 6 out of 9 but at least we are still alive albeit very much on the periphery of things.

When MB took over we were c.6/7 points off a play off berth with c.15 games to go. How on earth could a FT club in League 1 even contemplate describing the remainder of the season as a write off at that point? The BOD then sanction 4 new signings which is a bold step considering the size of squad we already had at that point. To describe writing off the season in that position is frankly ridiculous. There is no way that MB would have taken this job as his first standalone appointment without analysing the squad, the club, the fanbase etc. He had offers apparently so one assumes that he didn't share your views about the hopelessness of the playing squad and the opportunity for a second half turnaround. He may have got that wrong of course but you can be sure that he will have thought very hard about the pros and cons of QOS. There is no "free hit" in football - it doesn't exist. When you take over the reins at any club you need to :- - demonstrate to the supporters that the changes made are making a difference - these changes translate into positive results It is very early days and I think MB is potentially a good appointment but after 6 games and umpteen training sessions with the players I, personally, have been disappointed with progress to date.

To put the counter argument forward here - every time a Manager takes over a new post he inherits the squad that his predecessor assembled. As soon as the Manager signs on the dotted line he assumes immediate responsibility for the playing side and more importantly the results. His immediate job is to try and improve all aspects of footballing performance which hopefully should translate into better results. This notion being banded about that the season's over and we should suddenly "fast forward" to next season is ridiculous. We have 10 games to go and 30 points to play for. We have a FT squad of 25+ players in League 1 - there is absolutely no excuse for the results that are being churned out (previously under WG) and now under MB. We have literally failed to beat every team other than Peterhead, Clyde and Edinburgh (Montrose the solitary exception). MB is continuing with very similar formations to WG and a very similar playing style. A style of play incidentally that sees us languishing much closer to League 2 than the Championship. It is possible to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear - Dougie Imrie did it last season with Morton and there have been countless examples of Managers going into clubs and transforming performances and results in a very short period of time.

Agree - of course he should be able to improve the performances and results - 4 new players if decent could and should make a difference. One assumes that Marvin rates them otherwise he wouldn’t have signed them. It’s not as though we don’t have any good players to start with. We have the league’s top scorer, East is ok, Cochrane and McGrory can be capable, Todd is useful on his day. Wilson would be if he was ever fit to play. We continue to play this “tippy tappy” football if such a term exists? Overplaying in our own half, trying to walk the ball in, not shooting, no aerial presence in either box. We are playing exactly the same way that we did under WG. At the very least I expected us to show some competitive signs and play a higher energy game. We look so passive and we continue to concede crap avoidable goals week after week. I don’t see any identity in our play that is any different and that for me is very disappointing.

Let’s be honest he has a very low bar to outperform and I was expecting a lot more than I have seen in the past 5 league games. 4 new players should be improving things but we look every bit as poor as we were.

4 new signings and plenty of enthusiastic rhetoric but absolutely zero improvement where it matters …………….on the pitch. We look exactly the same as we were under WG and that’s not a compliment.In fact we are actually worse as we have dropped a place to 8th. Now 24 points behind a very mediocre Pars side which is bad enough BUT 10 BEHIND FC EDINBURGH despite beating them 3/3!!!! Another lacklustre display - could have played all day and never scored. The goals conceded were laughable. No on-field leadership and Wilson not fit to play yet again??

I surely don’t have to come to youth/reserve matches to have an opinion on a player’s most natural position? You say that I have no “knowledge of his best position” - I have seen nearly every minute of his first team appearances this season and most of these have been at RWB which I think gives me more than enough “game time” to form a view. Performing at youth/reserve level is a totally different proposition to first team level. As you step up, positional weaknesses tend to be exploited a lot more readily - that’s what I am seeing certainly but I don’t like back 3s anyway unless you have two energetic, athletic, marauding wingbacks which we don’t unfortunately.

I got shouted down a few weeks ago when I said that our on-field leadership was non-existent. We need to find a captain as a priority. Todd clearly not the answer. The sooner this is sorted the better. 4-4-2 should be our “go to” formation but we persist with this 3-4-1-2 set up (or a variation of it)week after week and the results tell their own story. Gibson never a wing back - Skyline tells me in another post that this is the position that he apparently has played in predominantly (pre first team appearances). I would be very surprised if many QOS regulars see Lewis in this role - it is pretty obvious that he is a “final third” player and potentially a very good one at that.

To be honest I haven’t seen him other than in the first team matches you mention. I am gobsmacked if that is the player’s preferred position. A player I really like but fear that he won’t reach his potential in a role where a big emphasis is on defending and tracking back.