The Queen of the South thread

[19QOS19]

On budgets Ayr have a similar budget to us but have a far better squad that  will challenge for the Top 4 how are we that far behind Ayr .
We will again struggle to stay in the League
Ayr have attracted decent signing with the offer of 2 year deals why have we again got the whole squad out of contract again come May .
 
 
 
 

Would you have been happy to see us with the dross from last year here again this season?

[chapelxnomore]

On budgets Ayr have a similar budget to us but have a far better squad that  will challenge for the Top 4 how are we that far behind Ayr .
We will again struggle to stay in the League
Ayr have attracted decent signing with the offer of 2 year deals why have we again got the whole squad out of contract again come May .
 
 
 
 

This page is turning into an echo chamber. Same entries posted cyclically, in typical knicker wetting fashion.

My take on league campaign is that after 2 games we are far easier on the eye than any of the previous 3 seasons. Fitzpatrick and Shields both direct, but perhaps lack some finesse and awareness. This will come. The 2 Centre backs are solid, in my opinion, and a threat at the other end. Maxwell is excellent going forward and nortey seems very accomplished going forward also. Both perhaps lack defensive instinct at this stage. Dobbie and East I think will develop a good partnership. My biggest concern in short term is our lack of ability in controlling midfield. I've watched 3 matches and we are lightweight here. Obeleye and buchanan would be more comfortable with a holding midfielder in front of them.
It seems to me that they try to play ball from the back, and occasionally go long, but not nearly as horrific as the recent past.
Whilst I agree that not to have won in 2020 seems untenable, this team is relatively new, and I think patience may pay off.
From what I have read I am no doubt in the minority, but I remain positive. It might be helpful if others did too.

[FrankReynolds]

9 minutes ago, chapelxnomore said:

This page is turning into an echo chamber. Same entries posted cyclically, in typical knicker wetting fashion.

My take on league campaign is that after 2 games we are far easier on the eye than any of the previous 3 seasons. Fitzpatrick and Shields both direct, but perhaps lack some finesse and awareness. This will come. The 2 Centre backs are solid, in my opinion, and a threat at the other end. Maxwell is excellent going forward and nortey seems very accomplished going forward also. Both perhaps lack defensive instinct at this stage. Dobbie and East I think will develop a good partnership. My biggest concern in short term is our lack of ability in controlling midfield. I've watched 3 matches and we are lightweight here. Obeleye and buchanan would be more comfortable with a holding midfielder in front of them.
It seems to me that they try to play ball from the back, and occasionally go long, but not nearly as horrific as the recent past.
Whilst I agree that not to have won in 2020 seems untenable, this team is relatively new, and I think patience may pay off.
From what I have read I am no doubt in the minority, but I remain positive. It might be helpful if others did too.

There's absolutely nothing easy on the eye about getting gubbed 5-2 at home to the newly promoted club. 

Also, 2 solid centre backs? Now I'm not sure if your fishing for bites but if not then surely you've seen the number of goals we've shipped since our first competitive game? 

Were lucky this season is shorter. Last seasons squad is going to look like the Brazil team of 1970 compared to this one. 

[Skyline Drifter]

1 hour ago, Northfield 53 said:

On budgets Ayr have a similar budget to us but have a far better squad that  will challenge for the Top 4 how are we that far behind Ayr .

We will again struggle to stay in the League

Ayr have attracted decent signing with the offer of 2 year deals why have we again got the whole squad out of contract again come May .

Because it's completely crazy to contemplate committing to two year deals when there's an international pandemic on with no imminent sign of a vaccine despite political posturing, we're still playing behind closed doors with no income and pretty much all of our non matchday income sources shut down too and half the clubs in the league screaming to the Govt that they'll go bust if they haven't been given Govt support in the next few months.

Still, you keep shouting for it. You can go and support Ayr and watch them play their own reserves and Dunfermline next year while everyone else has shut down again.

EDITED to add: it's interesting to hear both Queens and Ayr have chosen to share their budgets figures with you. Care to put the rest of us in the picture?

 

Edited October 27, 2020 by Skyline Drifter

[Skyline Drifter]

6 minutes ago, FrankReynolds said:

Also, 2 solid centre backs? Now I'm not sure if your fishing for bites but if not then surely you've seen the number of goals we've shipped since our first competitive game?

Other than very obviously Ayo's short back header on Saturday for the 5th, how many are you laying at the feet of the centre halves as a matter of interest?

Edited October 27, 2020 by Skyline Drifter

[FrankReynolds]

23 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Other than very obviously Ayo's short back header on Saturday for the 5th, how many are you laying at the feet of the centre halves as a matter of interest?

So you think our 2 CB's are solid? 

Any time Rath attacked, Buchanans backside collapsed. We were at home against the newly promoted team and he looked like he was shitting it. 

We wouldn't have conceded 5 if we had 2 better CB's playing instead that's for sure. It doesn't matter that Ayo was directly to blame for only 1 of the goals because him and Buchanan both made constant mistakes for 90 minutes. Against a better team - I fear 5 won't be the most we concede in one game this season. 

[19QOS19]

My take on league campaign is that after 2 games we are far easier on the eye than any of the previous 3 seasons.*

The 2 Centre backs are solid, in my opinion, and a threat at the other end. Maxwell is excellent going forward and nortey seems very accomplished going forward also. Both perhaps lack defensive instinct at this stage.**

My biggest concern in short term is our lack of ability in controlling midfield. I've watched 3 matches and we are lightweight here. Obeleye and buchanan would be more comfortable with a holding midfielder in front of them.***

It seems to me that they try to play ball from the back, and occasionally go long, but not nearly as horrific as the recent past.****

From what I have read I am no doubt in the minority, but I remain positive. It might be helpful if others did too.*****

* Certainly against Ayr and St Mirren that was the case. But the first half on Saturday was about as bad as I've seen us play in a long time. It's frustrating already. If we replicate the Ayr/St Mirren performances we would get by I think. If we play like Saturday we are well and truly down. The biggest worry though is that even though we played some nice stuff in the games mentioned we still failed to win. We can be as attractive on the eye as peak Barcelona but if we fail to win it means nothing.

** Until Saturday they looked ok together but they were both awful against Raith. Hopefully a once off but the warnings of Buchanan from other clubs is giving me the fear a bit. I thought he was equally to blame for two goals on Saturday with Ayo making a mess of one as well. Ayo obviously got on the scoresheet and assisted against Morton but I've seen nothing from Buchanan to suggest he's a threat going forward. I agree with you in regards to the full backs and Maxwell has been one of our stand-outs so far but first and foremost I want defenders to be able to defend.

*** It already looks like another season of powderpuff midfield. From what I've watched we have had a holding midfielder. The system looks as if it's 2 holding midfielders sitting in front of the CBs. McCabe has dropped every game and looked for a pass. His distribution hasn't always been the greatest though.

**** Similar to point *, Saturday was atrocious in the first half. Our entire strategy was boot the ball long to East who had no chance. It was an occasional short pass with the vast majority of balls going long.

***** This seems to crop up every season and as I say every season, we could all be positive, it won't make a blind bit of difference to the results. More so when we can't attend games.

I think the fans have every right to be alarmed after Saturday. Being comfortably disposed of by a newly promoted side at home is very concerning even this early on.

[Slipmat]

On 01/08/2020 at 11:38, Northfield 53 said:

Going to keep positive this season AJ will have a decent few signing  already lined up just as you say be patience for another couple of weeks  .

 

This statement really hasn't aged well

Edited October 27, 2020 by Slipmat

[SUPERSOUTH]

1 hour ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Other than very obviously Ayo's short back header on Saturday for the 5th, how many are you laying at the feet of the centre halves as a matter of interest?

At least 3 unfortunately.. We were warned by fans from other clubs regarding Buchanan, seems he likes to blame others alot.... The concerning thing is we only have the 2 CB's in the squad, if they are fit they play so no competition for places or even the possibility of playing three at the back..... 

[Slipmat]

23 minutes ago, SUPERSOUTH said:

At least 3 unfortunately.. We were warned by fans from other clubs regarding Buchanan, seems he likes to blame others alot.... The concerning thing is we only have the 2 CB's in the squad, if they are fit they play so no competition for places or even the possibility of playing three at the back..... 

To be fair to Buchanan he had every right to be raging at Nortey on Saturday.   If Nortey had been any further out of position during some Raith attacks when we were defending the Portland Road end he'd have been in Jessiefield.

[PearceDuff CF]

6 minutes ago, Slipmat said:

To be fair to Buchanan he had every right to be raging at Nortey on Saturday.   If Nortey had been any further out of position during some Raith attacks when we were defending the Portland Road end he'd have been in Jessiefield.

Yes his defending was criminal .

Edited October 27, 2020 by PearceDuff CF

[Messi Scott]

All squabbling about how bad Buchanan is, I said at the start of the season he’s a haddie and I got shot down for it 

[Monkey Tennis]

3 hours ago, Northfield 53 said:

 

Ayr have attracted decent signing with the offer of 2 year deals why have we again got the whole squad out of contract again come May .

It would have been utter madness to offer two year deals before the start of this season.

Thank God we didn't do it.

[Rjc-1988]

This page is turning into an echo chamber. Same entries posted cyclically, in typical knicker wetting fashion.

My take on league campaign is that after 2 games we are far easier on the eye than any of the previous 3 seasons. Fitzpatrick and Shields both direct, but perhaps lack some finesse and awareness. This will come. The 2 Centre backs are solid, in my opinion, and a threat at the other end. Maxwell is excellent going forward and nortey seems very accomplished going forward also. Both perhaps lack defensive instinct at this stage. Dobbie and East I think will develop a good partnership. My biggest concern in short term is our lack of ability in controlling midfield. I've watched 3 matches and we are lightweight here. Obeleye and buchanan would be more comfortable with a holding midfielder in front of them.
It seems to me that they try to play ball from the back, and occasionally go long, but not nearly as horrific as the recent past.
Whilst I agree that not to have won in 2020 seems untenable, this team is relatively new, and I think patience may pay off.
From what I have read I am no doubt in the minority, but I remain positive. It might be helpful if others did too.

Some very fair comments indeed and I agree with you. Given the challenges of trying to recruit almost an entire squad in the midst of all the uncertainty the Mgt Team have done well.If results were based on ability I don’t think we would have a problem as we have a number of really talented players - Obileye, Maxwell, Fitzpatrick, Shields and of course Dobbie are the obvious stand outs but Nortey, McCrory, and East have potential. In this league,however, you need real fight and will to win to get over the line.Our problem is getting the players to play as a team and not as individuals trying to showcase their own talents. For a few seasons we have been poor and weak when we don’t have the ball, and this trend has continued. Players don’t track runners diligently and our set up and concentration level at corners and set pieces is now so poor that most supporters expect to see the net bulge every time a cross comes in to the box. It’s far from a lost cause but urgent action required now to add some real grit and determination to the proceedings. Most of the competition are certain we will finish bottom or second bottom - that might work to our advantage. Dunfermline supporters have already banked the 3 points on Saturday - sometimes such over confidence comes back to haunt especially in this league.

[Skyline Drifter]

3 hours ago, SUPERSOUTH said:

At least 3 unfortunately.. We were warned by fans from other clubs regarding Buchanan, seems he likes to blame others alot.... The concerning thing is we only have the 2 CB's in the squad, if they are fit they play so no competition for places or even the possibility of playing three at the back..... 

Well clearly it's up to the individual what they see but I'd blame Buchanan for precisely none of the goals on Saturday and obviously Ayo for the 5th. There was some contribution to the 2nd and 4th but they weren't the major problem in either goal.

[Guest Flash]

I see the second round of the Scottish Cup is on 9 January which means ICT away will be shifted.

https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/news/scottish-cup-202021-format-confirmed/?rid=2107&fbclid=IwAR1NXmVYv6HXLMSTTFwot1GV_-tIiV__MYzM6-Y8-3BFgJsvz6pdkzCil5M

 

[Steeplechat]

Well clearly it's up to the individual what they see but I'd blame Buchanan for precisely none of the goals on Saturday and obviously Ayo for the 5th. There was some contribution to the 2nd and 4th but they weren't the major problem in either goal.

Big Ayo hasn’t done that much wrong so far to be honest apart from the 5th goal on Saturday. He’s big , strong wins everything in the air and very comfortable with the ball.

Buchanan will always split opinions unfortunately. He’s already been involved with several incidents since signing. 2 players sent off for fouls against him , wins a penalty against Ayr United and I actually thought he was lucky only to receive a yellow on Saturday.
He also talks a good game

[Benji]

17 hours ago, Northfield 53 said:

On budgets Ayr have a similar budget to us but have a far better squad that  will challenge for the Top 4 how are we that far behind Ayr .

We will again struggle to stay in the League

Ayr have attracted decent signing with the offer of 2 year deals why have we again got the whole squad out of contract again come May .

 

 

 

 

How do you know what Ayr’s budget is? How do you know what our budget is? Do you know the comparative wealth of the directors of both clubs? Do you actually know any facts?

Edited October 28, 2020 by Benji

[19QOS19]

9 minutes ago, Benji said:

How do you know what Ayr’s budget is? How do you know what our budget is? Do you know the comparative wealth of the directors of both clubs? Do you actually know any facts?

 

[SUPERSOUTH]

On 25/10/2020 at 18:02, SUPERSOUTH said:

Another home league defeat 6 in a row I am really struggling to get my head round why the manager has only 3 natural defenders in his squad its absolutely crazy.

Maybe AJ could share his reasoning behind this... 

Don't get me wrong it wasn't just the defenders to blame for yesterday's result.... 

The Loans window ends in 3 days time surely we will see another couple of defenders coming in, If not its only free agents until the window opens again.... No way the team can continue with such limited choice in defence suspensions/injuries will catch up then what?........plus at the moment its a case of if your fit you play that's no hood either...