The Queen of the South thread

[palmy_cammy]

Because he wasn't getting to the ball for this free shot? It looked that way to me.
I didn't think it was a penalty either.

I’m by no means certain, that’s just what I saw from quite far away.

[Monkey Tennis]

7 minutes ago, palmy_cammy said:

I’m by no means certain, that’s just what I saw from quite far away.

You might well be right.  It just looked to me that he probably wasn't reaching the ball so 'went down easily' as they say.  

Hopefully, the highlights will shed more light on a few of yesterday's events.

[SUPERSOUTH]

The manager has to be given the OK to strengthen the team/squad. Surely the board must see he needs to bring in 2/3. Hopefully we will get players on loan as soon as the spl sides suss out who they think will not feature in there first team squad at the moment but would benifit playing at Championship level. If not this could end up being a very disappointing centenary season. 

[Steeplechat]

You do realise loan players don’t come cheap either ?

Everyone at the club knows we need to strengthen the squad but only if we can afford it

[Come on queens]

7 minutes ago, Steeplechat said:

You do realise loan players don’t come cheap either ?

Everyone at the club knows we need to strengthen the squad but only if we can afford it

Exactly. We and the board all realise the squad needs strentghened but only if we can afford it. It looks like we can’t afford it. I’ve heard that the manager won’t even be getting any of the prize money they made from the bet Fred. 

[BIGdavieT]

OK so if we presume that there is 0 money left for players/loans, we must presume that Naysmith believes the young players are ready otherwise the squad would be far too small. I'm sure Queens fans would love nothing more than to see some of these youngsters break into the first team but there isn't much evidence to suggest they're ready yet is there? I would love to be proved wrong...

If we will be relying on the young players as much as that then they should be given more game time surely?

Would it have been better to spend the Harkins money on a more mobile midfielder?

[19QOS19]

Harkins is the kind of midfielder we've been craving for years.

[Distant Doonhamer]

26 minutes ago, BIGdavieT said:

OK so if we presume that there is 0 money left for players/loans, we must presume that Naysmith believes the young players are ready otherwise the squad would be far too small. I'm sure Queens fans would love nothing more than to see some of these youngsters break into the first team but there isn't much evidence to suggest they're ready yet is there? I would love to be proved wrong...

If we will be relying on the young players as much as that then they should be given more game time surely?

Would it have been better to spend the Harkins money on a more mobile midfielder?

No it wouldn`t.

It`s akin to let`s have Stewart Kean or Graham Weir instead of Stephen Dobbie. 

We have 2 excellent players in Harkins and Dobbie. The team should be being built to get the most out of them.

[Distant Doonhamer]

I`m generally not a great fan of 352 but wonder if it would make us a bit more solid defensively, allow us to get the best out of Harkins and Dobbie and sill have 2 up front.

Martin/Leighfield (I don`t particularly rate either)

Doyle, Fordyce, Semple,

Mercer, Harkins, Jacobs, Todd, Marshall.

Dykes, Dobbie.

Any thoughts?

[Come on queens]

56 minutes ago, BIGdavieT said:

OK so if we presume that there is 0 money left for players/loans, we must presume that Naysmith believes the young players are ready otherwise the squad would be far too small. I'm sure Queens fans would love nothing more than to see some of these youngsters break into the first team but there isn't much evidence to suggest they're ready yet is there? I would love to be proved wrong...

If we will be relying on the young players as much as that then they should be given more game time surely?

Would it have been better to spend the Harkins money on a more mobile midfielder?

Because there is no money, then having the young lads on the bench is the only option, whether the manager rates them or not. I don’t think people realise how tight money is. Us fans always think it’s a bottomless pit, where we should go and sign x,y and z. The worry is that the transfer window shuts and out star player gets injured. I’ve a feeling this could be a long, tough year. If we manage to avoid relegation this year then Naysmith deserves a medal. 

[palmy_cammy]

8 minutes ago, Distant Doonhamer said:

I`m generally not a great fan of 352 but wonder if it would make us a bit more solid defensively, allow us to get the best out of Harkins and Dobbie and sill have 2 up front.

Martin/Leighfield (I don`t particularly rate either)

Doyle, Fordyce, Semple,

Mercer, Harkins, Jacobs, Todd, Marshall.

Dykes, Dobbie.

Any thoughts?

It looks okay on paper but I don't think it would rectify any of yesterday's problems, it's the same players except you've replaced Stirling with Mercer, so the same deficiencies remain.

Your two wing-backs are essentially full-backs as neither are great going forward so it would revert to a back 5 pretty quickly.  Marshall does like to get forward so at times when that happens it would be a back four but with 3 CBs and no left back, or one of the CBs playing out of position at left-back.

Harkins is going to drop off and collect the ball from deep regardless of the formation, and likewise Jacobs is going to try and cover every blade of grass however we line up.

That would leave Todd floating about doing what he wants, Dykes dropping into midfield to make up the numbers and Dobbie isolated on his own.  Essentially what happened yesterday.

Pre-season would have been the time to try new formations, and as we didn't I can't imagine we'll start now.

As I said in the match thread, I don't think the problem yesterday wasn't down to tactics or personnel.  It was the manner we approached the game that lost us it.  Yes we made mistakes at the back and are likely to continue doing so, but if we start games on the front foot there is less pressure on the defence, and if we actually take the lead in a game for once the defensive errors may prove less costly.

[Homer Thompson]

27 minutes ago, Distant Doonhamer said:

I`m generally not a great fan of 352 but wonder if it would make us a bit more solid defensively, allow us to get the best out of Harkins and Dobbie and sill have 2 up front.

Martin/Leighfield (I don`t particularly rate either)

Doyle, Fordyce, Semple,

Mercer, Harkins, Jacobs, Todd, Marshall.

Dykes, Dobbie.

Any thoughts?

That might work if we had another Jacobs type player who would sit deep and defend, allowing Harkins the free role without any real defensive responsibilities. I say might as Im not convinced Semple or Fordyce are mobile enough to play in a  three

[Distant Doonhamer]

2 minutes ago, palmy_cammy said:

It looks okay on paper but I don't think it would rectify any of yesterday's problems, it's the same players except you've replaced Stirling with Mercer, so the same deficiencies remain.

Your two wing-backs are essentially full-backs as neither are great going forward so it would revert to a back 5 pretty quickly.  Marshall does like to get forward so at times when that happens it would be a back four but with 3 CBs and no left back, or one of the CBs playing out of position at left-back.

Harkins is going to drop off and collect the ball from deep regardless of the formation, and likewise Jacobs is going to try and cover every blade of grass however we line up.

That would leave Todd floating about doing what he wants, Dykes dropping into midfield to make up the numbers and Dobbie isolated on his own.  Essentially what happened yesterday.

Pre-season would have been the time to try new formations, and as we didn't I can't imagine we'll start now.

As I said in the match thread, I don't think the problem yesterday wasn't down to tactics or personnel.  It was the manner we approached the game that lost us it.  Yes we made mistakes at the back and are likely to continue doing so, but if we start games on the front foot there is less pressure on the defence, and if we actually take the lead in a game for once the defensive errors may prove less costly.

Yep all very fair points.  Absolutely agree about starting on the front foot but the more often we concede first (and second!) I suspect the more often a keep it tight mentality will prevail. As alluded to yesterday (by Flash I think) giving most teams a 2 goal start isn`t going to end well by and large. Anyway, interested to hear what others think. 

[QosLoyal]

Hopefully we can take advantage of a Falkirk team that have started off poorly. Think its important we dont get beat anyway.

[palmy_cammy]

34 minutes ago, Distant Doonhamer said:

Yep all very fair points.  Absolutely agree about starting on the front foot but the more often we concede first (and second!) I suspect the more often a keep it tight mentality will prevail. As alluded to yesterday (by Flash I think) giving most teams a 2 goal start isn`t going to end well by and large. Anyway, interested to hear what others think. 

I think if we change it to anything it would be more likely to be a 4-2-3-1 given the manager has previously stated that's his preferred formation.

Martin

Doyle Fordyce Semple Marshall

Jacobs Harkins

Stirling Dobbie Todd

Dykes

That again looks reasonable on paper, but it isn't a million miles away from how we lined up yesterday.  We are essentially talking about rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic!

The biggest concern is that if our average league start turns into a poor league start, it is all going to get stale very quickly.  It's going to be very hard to motivate the players when only really Doyle, Stirling and/or Todd know their position is up for grabs with Mercer and Murray waiting in the wings.

[Distant Doonhamer]

Just now, palmy_cammy said:

I think if we change it to anything it would be more likely to be a 4-2-3-1 given the manager has previously stated that's his preferred formation.

Martin

Doyle Fordyce Semple Marshall

Jacobs Harkins

Stirling Dobbie Todd

Dykes

That again looks reasonable on paper, but it isn't a million miles away from how we lined up yesterday.  We are essentially talking about rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic!

The biggest concern is that if our average league start turns into a poor league start, it is all going to get stale very quickly.  It's going to be very hard to motivate the players when only really Doyle, Stirling and/or Todd know their position is up for grabs with Mercer and Murray waiting in the wings.

Sometimes feels like we`re rearranging the icebergs.

Early days.

[19QOS19]

Hopefully we can take advantage of a Falkirk team that have started off poorly. Think its important we dont get beat anyway.

We were expected to take advantage of a poor Utd side yesterday [emoji38]

[nomad]

Another season, another home defeat. I know hardened died in the wool Queens men that stayed away from the first home game of the season that they would never miss under any circumstance and all because of last seasons dire form. The cynicism has risen to a level that they are expecting poor fair and a defeat. Now they plan to go to away games and put money in the coffers of others. First home game and no need to panic, but I fear two or three bad home results and the scene could be set for a pretty desperate centenary home season in terms of crowds. 

[weeredbook]

7 minutes ago, nomad said:

Another season, another home defeat. I know hardened died in the wool Queens men that stayed away from the first home game of the season that they would never miss under any circumstance and all because of last seasons dire form. The cynicism has risen to a level that they are expecting poor fair and a defeat. Now they plan to go to away games and put money in the coffers of others. First home game and no need to panic, but I fear two or three bad home results and the scene could be set for a pretty desperate centenary home season in terms of crowds. 

You are so right .It looks like a very long hard season ahead.

[SueSue]

3 hours ago, Mr X said:

That might work if we had another Jacobs type player who would sit deep and defend, allowing Harkins the free role without any real defensive responsibilities. I say might as Im not convinced Semple or Fordyce are mobile enough to play in a  three

I am really sorry to make this point Mr X,  But Reading articles about Sheffield United and their Academy  they have been playing a back three from first team, U23s and U18s  for the past three seasons.

It means all players understand how they would be expected to play in the first team so Semple should be fine in a back three.

I am also sure Fordyce is more than capable of playing centre in a back three as is Doyle on the right with his pace.

I am interested who we have that would be disciplined enough to sit in as a defensive midfielder if we don’t make any more signings.