Otis Blue

My only visit to Shawfield was early 1976. Queens won 3-1 thanks to a couple of goals from newly signed (from Albion Rovers) pacy striker Peter Dickson and a John Dempster penalty. Dickson brought new life to our season and sparked one of our "great escapes" from relegation - this time it was in what was known as the First Division (ie second tier at the time). Sad to see what's happened to Clyde since then.

The swastika had been appropriated by the extremely fascist German Nazi party from the mid 1920s as their symbol and flag. It was synonymous with the Nazis program of "racial hygiene". Even pre WW2 this symbolism was widely understood.

Yeah, Ian Reid was a really classy footballer, so clever on and off the ball - a cut above where Paton is now tbf. Connor Shields - more clinical, more powerful and more direct than Paton. Billy Houliston - way before even my time, gave me my first part-time job. Big strong fella, would've taken a big brave defender to stand in his way. Peter Dickson - lightning quick and could finish. Only recall a couple of seasons with us though. More a winger than a striker, but my hero when I started going to games was John Dempster - on his day tortured any defence, and what a right peg, when he hit the ball it stayed hit! Nice to digress, eh?

It's the decades of emotional pain, trauma and angst that goes with being Scottish. When the second goes in I'm saying to my son ... we might get a draw here ...

Basically, Steve Clarke should be First Minister ...

Well, I got the Bairns and the Pars the wrong way round but it didn't take Einstein to figure out they'd be the top two with their budgets. Through lack of L1/L2 knowledge I overestimated Kelty badly and under-estimated Embra equally badly - but having been pumped every game by a poor QOS side I'm left scratching my head as to how the hell Embra are where they are. I knew I was tempting fate when I said that at least one of the "fancied four" (ie the FT sides) would screw up badly - unfortunately, I got that right.

This is what I expect - he'll do a half-decent Andres Iniesta midfield impersonation in our last 6 games and Marvin will slap a contract in front of him - then he'll disappear again until March 2024. I'd like him to prove me wrong though ...

Whilst on the theme of our "ghost" who turned in an apparent MOTM performance on his second half showing on Friday. I do seem to recall that he's done similar before at the tail end of a season with us. Was it his last season with us before he signed for Partick? I think he was starting to turn in some decent performances then also. Those less charitable might suggest that his performance level tends to improve when his contract draws to a close and he's either seeking an extension or to attract the attention of future suitors. I think this is what's frustrating with him, we know there is a player in there but it just doesn't surface for long periods in the season. NB - just watched the goals from Friday night, his was a belter of a strike tbf!

Bet that made your day @19QOS19, brilliant!

What's happening on the new manager side guys? Will we be facing a "new manager bounce" on Saturday?

Enjoy your visit @peternapper (but hopefully not the result)!

By way of an indicator, there wasn't really that much between Accies and Queens in the Diddy Cup semi-final though (and yes, I know Diddy Cup and all that - but they did take it seriously, and won the cup after all at the weekend there against Raith). So for me an Accies win wouldn't be a certainty. Coming down from the Championship will be Cove I think - they're in freefall on a run of five defeats on the spin, whereas Arbroath are now unbeaten in five. So I think Arbroath may escape this and it will be Accies in the playoff spot to avoid the drop to the land that time forgot. That said, I'd prefer Arbroath to drop though cos (like Alloa) hell freezes over before Queens ever beat Accies.

Pars champions as the Bairns seem to be a bit distracted by the looming cup semi at Hampden, but the Bairns will be in the playoffs - that's definite for me. Alloa are the next best bet for the playoffs. The last playoff will obviously be between Airdrie, Embra, Queens and Montrose. As for Queens, I think we've left it too late and so whilst we are not yet officially "on the beach", we certainly already have the buckets and spades packed in the boot. That said, if we beat Peterhead on Saturday (yes, I know but this is QOS we're talking about) it could yet get interesting and momentum is a big thing at the sharp end of the season. Trouble is we've still to play Alloa and the last time Queens beat Alloa Brachiosaurus still roamed the planet - or at least that's what it feels like! If we do stay in it, the second last game at Airdrie should be a stoater, and if we make it to the final home game with Kelty then at long last we should finally have some decent numbers back in Palmy to make it a noisy affair. It is however, the hope that kills as they say ...

Unless my ageing brain is failing me (again) Kelty are now arithmetically safe, the bottom two will be Clyde and Peterhead (the order to be decided) and neither can now catch Kelty's 34 points.

Some of the big European stadiums actually have technical areas where the coach/subs actually do sit in "dug outs" - ie their heads are only just above pitch level. Not sure where I last saw this - was it Napoli or Roma? Always seems crazy - you'd think the coaching team would want to be sitting high enough to get a good view of the game. Never gonna be an issue for Queens mind!