The Queen of the South thread

[TxRover]

On 31/03/2021 at 16:40, spot on said:

I’m sure it was reported  at the time  that Raith paid something  like £300,000  extra to lay some sort of cushioned underlay at Starks to their Astro. Well worth it when you see it compared to others

The installed surface was reportedly around £700,000, all in. Reports included noting a bitumen layer between the foundation and carpet to improve performance, and early cost reports were in the £500,000 range, so the idea that was an added £200,000 upgrade doesn’t seem unrealistic. There is also a top level irrigation system, the use of 60mm vice 50mm of pellets and the choice of a woven versus tufted carpet. That bitumen upgrade also apparently eases replacement time and costs in the future.

Edited April 2, 2021 by TxRover

[19QOS19]

Good news about Jones. Wouldn't even rush him back for Monday would just be happy to have back for the rest of the league campaign. Massive boost.

[Distant Doonhamer]

Good news about Jones. Wouldn't even rush him back for Monday would just be happy to have back for the rest of the league campaign. Massive boost.

Agreed.

[Alex Nesovic's Barmy Army]

Rangers have appealed the bans against the five players and hearing date to be set. Means that Mebude is free to play Monday night?

[Guest Flash]

34 minutes ago, Alex Nesovic's Barmy Army said:

Rangers have appealed the bans against the five players and hearing date to be set. Means that Mebude is free to play Monday night?

Had a very quick read of the Judicial Panel Protocol and I think he should be available. The appeal hearing should be within 5 working days of the date the SFA receive the appeal. It isn’t clear when the appeal was lodged but Monday probably isn’t a working day anyway, so even if the hearing could have been arranged for then, it probably won’t be. 
Likely it will take place at some point next week, so Monday night could be the only game he is available for before the appeal happens. Not sure if that is a good thing because, if the appeal is denied, he will miss a league game instead.

[Northfield 53]

16 hours ago, Flash said:

Had a very quick read of the Judicial Panel Protocol and I think he should be available. The appeal hearing should be within 5 working days of the date the SFA receive the appeal. It isn’t clear when the appeal was lodged but Monday probably isn’t a working day anyway, so even if the hearing could have been arranged for then, it probably won’t be. 
Likely it will take place at some point next week, so Monday night could be the only game he is available for before the appeal happens. Not sure if that is a good thing because, if the appeal is denied, he will miss a league game instead.

Why would Rangers appeal it .

They don't have a case all players are guilty only hope is that the suspension is cut .

Would rather Dapo missed the Cup Tie than  another  league game but nothing Queens can do about it .

Good news about Jones but both him and Pybus should look towards the Inverness game for coming back 

[qos1990]

Why would Rangers appeal it .
They don't have a case all players are guilty only hope is that the suspension is cut .
Would rather Dapo missed the Cup Tie than  another  league game but nothing Queens can do about it .
Good news about Jones but both him and Pybus should look towards the Inverness game for coming back 

They obviously think they have a case

[19QOS19]

They obviously think they have a case

I can't see how they do tbh. I expect they're wasting their time but I was speaking to a Rangers supporting pal today who reckons it's so one of the players can play RB until Tavernier is back; which will be the game after next he reckons. Apparently he's been filling in.

Suppose that would make a bit more sense. I'll be gobsmacked if they get away with it, though for obvious selfish reasons hope they do.

[jakeyman]

next 2 rounds of the cup just been drawn

Stranraer v Queens/Hibs

quarters

Stranraer/Queens/Hibs v Motherwell/Morton

other potential highlight of the next round

Rangers/Cove Rangers v Celtic 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 4, 2021 by jakeyman

[Rjc-1988]

Things looking a lot clearer in the Play Off race after last nights results. Raith and Dundee in a commanding position - probably one place up for grabs with ourselves, Caley and Pars fighting it out for 4th place. Caley looking favourites and Saturdays match is certainly a “must not lose one” for us.

A win and we are in a very strong position.

[Monkey Tennis]

22 minutes ago, Rjc-1988 said:

Things looking a lot clearer in the Play Off race after last nights results. Raith and Dundee in a commanding position - probably one place up for grabs with ourselves, Caley and Pars fighting it out for 4th place. Caley looking favourites and Saturdays match is certainly a “must not lose one” for us.

A win and we are in a very strong position.

Yes, good results for us last night in terms of safety; less so as regards looking upwards.

It can certainly be argued that the fact we still have to play everyone above us except Hearts, gives us a chance to make up ground and maybe overtake a couple.  However, it also means we're playing the stronger sides.

The likeliest outcome would be a mid table finish, which most of us would have killed for on Boxing Day.

[ALOREBURNE]

The 2 defeats to Alloa have really set us back. Even just 4 points from them 2 games would have seen us in a nice position. 

[19QOS19]

Yes, good results for us last night in terms of safety; less so as regards looking upwards.
It can certainly be argued that the fact we still have to play everyone above us except Hearts, gives us a chance to make up ground and maybe overtake a couple.  However, it also means we're playing the stronger sides.
The likeliest outcome would be a mid table finish, which most of us would have killed for on Boxing Day.

Aye. I expect if we fall short of a Top 4 finish there will be a bit of disappointed given how inconsistent everyone in the league have been and it made Top 4 a real possibility. But I'm still more concerned about safety and like you say, a midtable finish will be a remarkable achievement given how we started the season and that almost everyone (including some of our own fans, and certainly me) had us down as relegation fodder.

[Rjc-1988]

Yes, good results for us last night in terms of safety; less so as regards looking upwards.
It can certainly be argued that the fact we still have to play everyone above us except Hearts, gives us a chance to make up ground and maybe overtake a couple.  However, it also means we're playing the stronger sides.
The likeliest outcome would be a mid table finish, which most of us would have killed for on Boxing Day.

Despite Hearts’ poor recent form I agree that it is a distinct advantage not to have to play them again. The five remaining fixtures are, however, very tough in their own right. We have 3 at home which on paper looks good but arguably our big wins have tended to come away from home!

With almost a full squad to pick from the temptation might be to introduce more creativity. We saw on Monday when we introduced Jones and sacrificed a central midfielder ...............Hibs ran through us at will with gaps appearing everywhere. Fortunately we won’t face that level of quality any time soon but we will unquestionably need to stop shipping so many poor goals in the run in. If we can defend well (a big if) we should carry a threat up top with the pace of Jones and Shields. Dobbie was rarely involved on Monday but when he was he created two huge chances for Shields (one with a lovely ball through) , missed a great chance when he blasted over and then the ill fated penalty appeal. To accommodate Dobbs we really need to go 3-5-2 and that formation doesn’t suit Jones. Some big selection calls coming up.

[Guest Flash]

57 minutes ago, Rjc-1988 said:

Despite Hearts’ poor recent form I agree that it is a distinct advantage not to have to play them again. The five remaining fixtures are, however, very tough in their own right. We have 3 at home which on paper looks good but arguably our big wins have tended to come away from home!

With almost a full squad to pick from the temptation might be to introduce more creativity. We saw on Monday when we introduced Jones and sacrificed a central midfielder ...............Hibs ran through us at will with gaps appearing everywhere. Fortunately we won’t face that level of quality any time soon but we will unquestionably need to stop shipping so many poor goals in the run in. If we can defend well (a big if) we should carry a threat up top with the pace of Jones and Shields. Dobbie was rarely involved on Monday but when he was he created two huge chances for Shields (one with a lovely ball through) , missed a great chance when he blasted over and then the ill fated penalty appeal. To accommodate Dobbs we really need to go 3-5-2 and that formation doesn’t suit Jones. Some big selection calls coming up.

 

Since the good run started after Boxing Day, the best defensive performances have been against Raith(A) Hearts (H) ICT (A) and Dunfermline (H). One goal (a penalty) conceded in those 4 games. Apart from those, we have conceded an average of 2 goals per game.
Last night’s results should help us to stay up but it is not certain yet. I can’t see us finishing in the top 4 unless we can reproduce the defensive performances of the four games noted. Arbroath, Alloa, Morton and Hearts scored 9 goals against us when they weren’t scoring anything like the same rate against the other teams they played recently. Although we won two of those games, I don’t think playing that way in the remaining games (especially the home ones) will work. We need to get back to being well organised and difficult to score against.

 

Edited April 7, 2021 by Flash

[Monkey Tennis]

30 minutes ago, Flash said:

Since the good run started after Boxing Day, the best defensive performances have been against Raith(A) Hearts (H) ICT (A) and Dunfermline (H). One goal (a penalty) conceded in those 4 games. Apart from those, we have conceded an average of 2 goals per game.
Last night’s results should help us to stay up but it is not certain yet. I can’t see us finishing in the top 4 unless we can reproduce the defensive performances of the four games noted. Arbroath, Alloa, Morton and Hearts scored 9 goals against us when they weren’t scoring anything like the same rate against the other teams they played recently. Although we won two of those games, I don’t think playing that way in the remaining games (especially the home ones) will work. We need to get back to being well organised and difficult to score against.

 

Yes, we're not likely to score enough to keep picking up points while conceding so many.

Tightening up at the back is needed if our firepower is to matter.  If we lose our next couple, 9th spot will start to look more distinct as a possibility.

Edited April 7, 2021 by Monkey Tennis

[Guest Flash]

7 minutes ago, Monkey Tennis said:

Yes, we're not likely to score enough to keep picking up points while conceding so many.

Tightening up at the back is needed if our firepower is to matter.  If we lose our next couple, 9th spot will start to look like more distinct as a possibility.

Here is some boring historical info that suggests we’re unlikely to finish in the top 4, unless the defending improves.

Since 1994/95 only five teams have finished in the top 4 with a negative goal difference. The worst being minus 2.
The highest number of goals a team finishing in the top four has conceded is 59 (1.64 per game) which equates to 44 in a 27 game season. We are on 44 against just now. So, if we do finish in the top four we will at least have matched the highest ever goals against total. 
If we maintain the average for the season of conceding 2 per game (as we have in the first four games of the final round of fixtures) we would match the average goals conceded by the 10th placed team over the course of the last 26 years. 

[Monkey Tennis]

2 minutes ago, Flash said:

Here is some boring historical info that suggests we’re unlikely to finish in the top 4, unless the defending improves.

Since 1994/95 only five teams have finished in the top 4 with a negative goal difference. The worst being minus 2.
The highest number of goals a team finishing in the top four has conceded is 59 (1.64 per game) which equates to 44 in a 27 game season. We are on 44 against just now. So, if we do finish in the top four we will at least have matched the highest ever goals against total. 
If we maintain the average for the season of conceding 2 per game (as we have in the first four games of the final round of fixtures) we would match the average goals conceded by the 10th placed team over the course of the last 26 years. 

There is nothing remotely boring about this stuff.

It does establish that it's pretty remarkable that we're not still in deep trouble.

[Rjc-1988]

I agree that statistically we are trying to buck a well established trend. In truth our negative goal difference also means that tying for 4th is not going to get the job done.

Under GN we repeatedly turned potential wins into draws and potential draws into defeats. This season we have won a host of games 9 and only drawn 3. Most of these have been very narrow marginal wins (we have only beaten Raith and Arbroath by 2).........so we have actually battled really well when the games have been really finely balanced. Turning draws into wins is absolutely massive in this league when almost every game could go either way.

[Distant Doonhamer]

While I wouldn't like to rely on it we might be clear of 9th already. If we get no more points from our 5 remaining Ayr need 4 points to catch us plus Morton and Arbroath both need 5 (all three with 4 games remaining). I don't think it's that unlikely that one of them won't achieve that but in this league predictions aren't much comfort.  It would great to be clear of trouble before the last game in case a a cosy wee draw between Arbroath and Morton on that evening would be enough to make us 9th. 

As you can tell I'm oscillating between being hopeful and still worried.

Edited April 7, 2021 by Distant Doonhamer