The Queen of the South thread

[Monkey Tennis]

55 minutes ago, Rjc-1988 said:

I can see no upside whatsoever in us falling through the relegation trapdoor into League 1. Several PT teams have really got their act together in recent years and if you add to that the more affluent, ambitious wannabes you face a level of competition that bears no resemblance to the league that we dominated last time around. In fact any complacency allied to a weak re-building policy and we could start to slump alarmingly. Let’s be realistic our hard core support has fallen from around 1400 to 1000 in the past few seasons. Clubs like Morton have been equally as bad as we have recently but their hard core support is holding up better.Just imagine if we were in mid table League 1 or worse - you can safely assume that the 1000 would become 600/700 and then our income streams are on a par with say East Fife, Airdrie, Montrose. That is a nightmare scenario and much as our appalling win ratio in this league is hugely frustrating we must do everything possible to retain our Championship status.

Yes, I suppose that's the other side of the argument.

As well as Falkirk, sides like Cove, QP and Kelty do mean that the landscape beneath us is different.

I just know, however, that right now, this is no fun and feels like it needs to change.  Change in a downward direction feels a whole lot likelier than its opposite.

Staying in this division with slightly higher gates and income than we'd get in a lower one, isn't really an end in itself.  You have to think what it's for, and if it's to keep on winning a quarter of our games, the question 'Why?'  becomes irresistible.

Edited November 20, 2021 by Monkey Tennis

[Passionate]

2 hours ago, Manwithnoball said:

Stuart Kettlewell, Martin Canning, Brian Rice, Wullie Gibson with an experienced No 2. All better than what we have just now. 

Chipper is Falkirk bound

[Greenacres]

1 hour ago, mwwqos321 said:

Now what on earth is this about eh? Would like to see Gibson as interim manager then appoint a good experienced guy who can get back to basics alongside Gibson or go for an exceptional young guy with loads of potential who plays expansive positive football to the best out of the players we have and play them in their rightful positions. Simple eh?

Gibson is not ready yet to be a manager but maybe assistant to Sandy Clark .

 

[die hard doonhamer]

2 minutes ago, Greenacres said:

Gibson is not ready yet to be a manager but maybe assistant to Sandy Clark .

 

Whilst I don’t think it should be Gibson if the job does open up (mainly because he’s our best player), why is he any less ready than, say, AJ was first time round?

 And it’s a hard no to Clark, thanks. 

[Fae_the_'briggs]

1 hour ago, die hard doonhamer said:

Whilst I don’t think it should be Gibson if the job does open up (mainly because he’s our best player), why is he any less ready than, say, AJ was first time round?

 And it’s a hard no to Clark, thanks. 

When someone suggested Gibson with an experienced assistant I was going to suggest Gibson with Clark as assistant but that would be a definite wind-up. Clark may be part of the present problem if he's advising Johnston on line-ups and tactics, but obviously it's Johnston who will (rightly) carry the can in the end. 

[the philosopher]

Not being nasty but I think u boys are destined for part time football.

Nothing wrong with that either ' ce la Arbroath

 

[Fae_the_'briggs]

6 hours ago, the philosopher said:

Not being nasty but I think u boys are destined for part time football.

Nothing wrong with that either ' ce la Arbroath

 

Arbroath are doing well at the moment being part time  as they seem to have a competent Board and management team, they may or may not continue to  have the same success in future if any of that changes though. Its a matter of debate if Queens' Board is totally competent, they have overseen some good things off the park, but we have flirted with relegation the past few seasons, so their running of the club in that time is questionable. Our Management team, although working under difficult restraints, don't seem to have what it takes to manage any team, part or full time, at Championship level. 

[19QOS19]

Not being nasty but I think u boys are destined for part time football.
Nothing wrong with that either ' ce la Arbroath
 

Surprised it hasn't happened already tbh. Given our poor crowds I fully expect us to move to a hybrid approach at the very least in the not too distant future.

[Greenacres]

13 hours ago, die hard doonhamer said:

Whilst I don’t think it should be Gibson if the job does open up (mainly because he’s our best player), why is he any less ready than, say, AJ was first time round?

 And it’s a hard no to Clark, thanks. 

You really think we have the money to pay off both AJ and Clark talking the best part of £100,000 to get rid of both .

Whatever happens Clark will be staying as a assistant or manager 

[Fae_the_'briggs]

2 minutes ago, Greenacres said:

You really think we have the money to pay off both AJ and Clark talking the best part of £100,000 to get rid of both .

Whatever happens Clark will be staying as a assistant or manager 

The board have got to weigh up the cost of potential relegation and the season upon season fight against relegation against the cost of paying off the management team, even if it does cost a bit of money to get rid of them. I would very much doubt Clark being kept on if Johnston goes, he's followed Johnston out of the Club before. Its a complete change at that level that's needed, indeed a complete overhaul or re-think of almost everything behind the scenes where the 1st team squad is concerned if we hope to continue as a recognised Championship club, or become a club yo-yo-ing between the Championship and the seaside leagues. I've long given up hope that we will actually show enough ambition to move up the way out of the Championship anyway. 

Also, apologies for quoting Greenacres to those who have him on ignore. 

[the_palmy_pie]

2 hours ago, Greenacres said:

You really think we have the money to pay off both AJ and Clark talking the best part of £100,000 to get rid of both .

Whatever happens Clark will be staying as a assistant or manager 

Please enlighten us to the terms of their contracts …..? 

[Slipmat]

It's very telling that, unless I've missed something, absolutely nobody has come to AJ's defence.  Even toward the end of the tenures of Naysmith, Gus and Iain Scott you would still hear the odd happy clapper saying "give him x number of weeks" or "wait to see who he brings in in the next transfer window" but on this occasion it seems to be a unanimous opinion amongst fans that he's got to go and the sooner the better.

I don't know if the board read comments on forums, but if they don't then I would be hoping that the SLOs are making them aware of the mood of the fans.  This is a test which will prove just how much of a community club that has the interests of the fans at heart Queen of the South FC actually is, and is also an indicator as to what expectations and ambitions the board have regarding the club's position in Scottish football.  If they are accepting relegation, they need only look to Falkirk to see how being a supposed big fish in a wee pond doesn't guarantee success.

We've been shat on before with the Sevco vote and the pathetic apology for the Galloway shambles, surely Billy & Co can't be seen to be failing to read the room again.

ETA - if the board come across as being apathetic, is it any wonder that the supporters become apathetic and drift away?

Edited November 21, 2021 by Slipmat

[TheScarf]

Also, part time doesn't mean they have worse players.  It just means they train 2 days a week instead of 4 or 5.

[Dougie Mills]

40 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

Also, part time doesn't mean they have worse players.  It just means they train 2 days a week instead of 4 or 5.

Our players don’t appear to do anything constructive in training anyways so a few less sessions wouldn’t make much difference.

Edited November 21, 2021 by Dougie Mills

[Slipmat]

1 minute ago, Dougie Mills said:

Our players don’t appear to do anything constructive in training anyways so a few less sessions wouldn’t make in difference.

We'd probably have fewer injuries.

[TheScarf]

I'd say Arbroath have better players than Ayr and Morton at least. 

[Katboy]

I only managed to watch the 1st half of Fridays game on TV due to work commitments.  However, what I did see made for at times painful viewing.  Aimless punt up the park followed by aimless punt up the park, with little or no shape or structure to the team.   The last couple weeks had showed a little bit of improvement, and I was hoping for a further improvement.  Instead we were back to the disorganised shambles that has become indicative of Johnston's time at the club.  I can only surmise as to what actually happens at training during the week.

Every week we have players playing out of position and not fully knowing what role they are meant to be fulfilling.  I'm convinced he picks his formation out of a hat at 230pm every Saturday!  While I don't expect managers to jump about like a mad thing I do at least expect them to take their hands out of their pockets, and show a little bit of interest.  This apathy for me does transfer itself on to the pitch.

I have long since lost patience with this under performing manager.  The recent downward trend in attendances would suggest that I am far from being alone in this.  I accept there is a financial cost involved in removing and replacing him, but this should be weighed against the cost of relegation.  League 1 is a shadow of the league that we steamrollered the last time, and as has been proven with Falkirk in recent seasons will be far more difficult to get out of.  

Relegation will inevitably result in lesser crowds and lesser income from all sources.  Our board has to act now while there is still time.

[Monkey Tennis]

2 hours ago, TheScarf said:

Also, part time doesn't mean they have worse players.  It just means they train 2 days a week instead of 4 or 5.

Yes, but as general rule, the players who are capable of playing football for a living are better than those who need to combine playing with other employment. 

It's not so much that being full time makes you better because you train more; it's that in being offered a full time contract, you're probably already better than those who aren't.

Of course, when you get down to our level, you're right on the cusp of FT/PT. That means that the above General rule  breaks down a bit, as exemplified by what Arbroath are achieving.

[Manwithnoball]

Arbroath pay more part time than we do full time. Some of our players are on less than £300 a week full time. AJ has said that in many occasions. Something more embarrassing from the club is players being asked to travel up to Cove this weekend in their own transport at their own expense as club is paying hotel and meals. So unprofessional it is ridiculous. Arbroath also have a very settled squad for last few years because players play for the manger and less chop and changing every year. Almost all experienced players never want to play for AJ the next season. He is the issue!!!

Edited November 21, 2021 by Manwithnoball

[Otis Blue]

On 20/11/2021 at 19:02, 19QOS19 said:

It'll be Gibson.

To be fair, that's often what we do, promote from within ..... and of course it's cheaper (not decrying WG here by the way).