The Queen of the South thread

[Otis Blue]

Looks like we've missed out on Philippe Coutinho then .....

[qos1990]

Ask our fantastic PR department [emoji849]

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] the players will give everything tomorrow though. Match previews just get worse and worse

[the_palmy_pie]

1 hour ago, qos1990 said:

the players will give everything tomorrow though. Match previews just get worse and worse

What happened to the Friday night pre match YouTube interviews with AJ ? 

[Slipmat]

I see McKechnie has extended his contract until June.  We might even see him on the pitch before then 

2 hours ago, the_palmy_pie said:

What happened to the Friday night pre match YouTube interviews with AJ ? 

No need for them.  He just repeats himself in every interview anyway.

[19QOS19]

No need for them.  He just repeats himself in every interview anyway.

Aye. He's as well giving the tedious "It's a hard place to come" line in regards to Palmerston as well given we rarely get a win there either.

[Alex Nesovic's Barmy Army]

You could watch one of the old ones and swap team names. Won't make any difference.

What happened to the Friday night pre match YouTube interviews with AJ ? 

[qos1990]

What happened to the Friday night pre match YouTube interviews with AJ ? 

Supposed to be a weekly thing… but then again would I want to listen to the same shite every week coming out Johnston’s mouth

[BeeJay]

At least he won't come out with 'we should be beating teams like ?????' which at best is insulting to the other team and their management team. But no doubt he'll tell us that Kilmarnock are a quality team/they've got top players/ they're a Premiership team/they're flying just now (which they are not) etc etc. He'll be stuck for words if we win, or will he?

[JK_Queens]

Johnston saying he’s aiming for 4 signings in the January window. Encouraging but could do with them sooner rather than later. 

[Manwithnoball]

11 minutes ago, JK_Queens said:

Johnston saying he’s aiming for 4 signings in the January window. Encouraging but could do with them sooner rather than later. 

Where did you hear this from?

[JK_Queens]

4 minutes ago, Manwithnoball said:

Where did you hear this from?

 Interview by Chick Young on BBC Scotland on the drive down to the game with Queens v Killie the commentary game.

Edited January 8, 2022 by JK_Queens

[Riviera711]

He was interviewed on BBC Sportsound.

[BeeJay]

Listening to those interviews on BBC you'd be excused for thinking it's the Derek McInnis Show this afternoon! 

[Greenacres]

2 hours ago, JK_Queens said:

Johnston saying he’s aiming for 4 signings in the January window. Encouraging but could do with them sooner rather than later. 

Do we sack AJ or gamble on him having a clue to get 4 quality loan  signing in.

For me we have to give AJ a chance he did it last Jan  but  really this time we really have to spend big to try and stay in the Championship .

 .

 

 

[Slipmat]

5 minutes ago, Greenacres said:

Do we sack AJ or gamble on him having a clue to get 4 quality loan  signing in.

For me we have to give AJ a chance he did it last Jan  but  really this time we really have to spend big to try and stay in the Championship .

 .

 

 

Pointless to bring in 4 quality loan signings but be stuck with a manager who doesn't have a clue how to get the best out of them.

Just get him punted and give Gibson the job until the summer.  If it doesn't work it then so be it, but the board need to roll the dice and try something different to get us out of this rut because AJ certainly isn't capable of doing it.

[Greenacres]

2 minutes ago, Slipmat said:

Pointless to bring in 4 quality loan signings but be stuck with a manager who doesn't have a clue how to get the best out of them.

Just get him punted and give Gibson the job until the summer.  If it doesn't work it then so be it, but the board need to roll the dice and try something different to get us out of this rut because AJ certainly isn't capable of doing it.

Gibson is never ready for the managers job yet .

Why waste all that money paying off AJ when we could use that to add to the squad .

The players would get a new manager lift for a game or two but look at Dunfermline are they any better with John Hughes as the new manager.

[Priti priti priti Patel]

I just had a look back at the Board’s answers to written questions at the last AGM. I think it puts into context why the club is performing so poorly. The page with the questions and answers doesn't seem to be working but you can see an archive here: https://web.archive.org/web/20210422030325/http://qosfc.com/news-5367.

As I go on to say below, the club lacks any clear objective, but it's useful first to say why that's the case. The Board were asked if they looked at any data to set objectives for where Queen of the South should be in the pyramid. The answer was no. They said they were aware that data analysis “is very much in trend at present”. This suggests two things: firstly, they are confusing business-oriented market research with player-based data analysis. Secondly, whatever they’re thinking of, they think it’s just “a trend”.

I advise businesses and own my own small business. In the interests of fairness, I admit each of the directors has had a longer career and achieved more than I have to date. However, most people in business accept that it’s impossible to make informed business decisions without data behind them. If you’re a tradesman trying to go independent, you can sort of just set up and see if you get work. But if you’re Tesco deciding to build a new store, you’d think about (a) cost of investment, (b) return from existing store in the town, (c) competition from other stores in the town, (d) transport links, (e) predicted local population growth, (f) lifetime of the property, etc.

I am not saying Queen of the South should be operating on the same level as Tesco, but I would at least expect our board to be using some sort of data to base their decisions on. Without data, you can’t set objectives, you can’t assess whether you’re under or over performing, you can’t know where to invest, etc. It leads to a rudderless ship.

We can then see that rudderless ship in action. In the written questions linked above, the directors were asked specifically if there was a business plan and what it looked like – who authored it, what is its duration, when was it written, how many pages was it, who has access to it. The answer was simply “The plan for the club is to make the business financially self-sufficient by increasing non match day income, in particular, by developing the property assets owned by the club and increasing commercial activities.”. So – no business plan at all.

The board were asked three times what the club’s objective was. They gave three different answers. They said (1) “The aim must be to play in the highest league possible” although no information on what league, and what position in the league, they assess that to be; (2) “The plan for the club is to make the business financially self-sufficient”; and (3) “The board’s ambition is very much to mount a promotion challenge every season”. I am confused how any decision gets made at board level if they aren't clear about what they are aiming for.

I am also concerned about the board’s financial stewardship of the club. It’s true we have reported a profit in the last two financial years. However, going back to the Tesco example, it's no good returning a profit if you're doing it by selling off a few stores every year to finish in the black. Eventually, they’d have nothing left. Our situation appears similar. We’ve returned profit two years in a row, but only with the stadium falling apart, our performances steadily worsening, our squad becoming steadily weaker, and our fanbase collapsing. For me, that’s not successful financial stewardship.

The final point I want to make also relates to finances. In the written questions, the board stated “The club sets a budget which aims to break even while assuming no cup progress or player sales.  Inevitably, of course, the playing budget tends to increase during the season to cope with injuries or deficiencies in the squad”. I read this to mean the board sets a budget which it thinks will inevitably get broken. That seems a pointless task, but okay. They go on to say “If there was a cash deficit, then this would be funded by the Directors”. However, with a lack of clarity about objectives, it begs the question: are they funding that to the level which puts us in the highest league possible, or just puts us self-sufficient, or allows us to mount a promotion challenge every season.

I say all the above as someone who has typically defended the board on this forum. I think a lot of people confuse the role of owner with the role of director. It is not the directors responsibility to put their own money into the club, and the fact they do is a great service to the club. Unfortunately, the performances both on and off the pitch mean questions have to be asked. There is clear room for improvement, and I think a good starting point would be to just look at a bit of market data and formulate a plan for what we're meant to be doing!

 

Edited January 8, 2022 by Priti priti priti Patel

[Benji]

22 minutes ago, Greenacres said:

Gibson is never ready for the managers job yet .

Why waste all that money paying off AJ when we could use that to add to the squad .

The players would get a new manager lift for a game or two but look at Dunfermline are they any better with John Hughes as the new manager.

Gibson seemed to do pretty well with the reserves before stepping in to be a player again. 

[coo shedder]

39 minutes ago, Priti priti priti Patel said:

I just had a look back at the Board’s answers to written questions at the last AGM. I think it puts into context why the club is performing so poorly. The page with the questions and answers doesn't seem to be working but you can see an archive here: https://web.archive.org/web/20210422030325/http://qosfc.com/news-5367.

As I go on to say below, the club lacks any clear objective, but it's useful first to say why that's the case. The Board were asked if they looked at any data to set objectives for where Queen of the South should be in the pyramid. The answer was no. They said they were aware that data analysis “is very much in trend at present”. This suggests two things: firstly, they are confusing business-oriented market research with player-based data analysis. Secondly, whatever they’re thinking of, they think it’s just “a trend”.

I advise businesses and own my own small business. In the interests of fairness, I admit each of the directors has had a longer career and achieved more than I have to date. However, most people in business accept that it’s impossible to make informed business decisions without data behind them. If you’re a tradesman trying to go independent, you can sort of just set up and see if you get work. But if you’re Tesco deciding to build a new store, you’d think about (a) cost of investment, (b) return from existing store in the town, (c) competition from other stores in the town, (d) transport links, (e) predicted local population growth, (f) lifetime of the property, etc.

I am not saying Queen of the South should be operating on the same level as Tesco, but I would at least expect our board to be using some sort of data to base their decisions on. Without data, you can’t set objectives, you can’t assess whether you’re under or over performing, you can’t know where to invest, etc. It leads to a rudderless ship.

In the written questions linked above, the directors were asked specifically if there was a business plan and what it looked like – who authored it, what is its duration, when was it written, how many pages was it, who has access to it. The answer was simply “The plan for the club is to make the business financially self-sufficient by increasing non match day income, in particular, by developing the property assets owned by the club and increasing commercial activities.”. So – no business plan at all.

The board were asked three times what the club’s objective was. They gave three different answers. They said (1) “The aim must be to play in the highest league possible” although no information on what league, and what position in the league, they assess that to be; (2) “The plan for the club is to make the business financially self-sufficient”; and (3) “The board’s ambition is very much to mount a promotion challenge every season”. I am confused how any decision gets made at board level if they aren't clear about what they are aiming for.

I am also concerned about the board’s financial stewardship of the club. It’s true we have reported a profit in the last two financial years. However, going back to the Tesco example, it's no good returning a profit if you're doing it by selling off a few stores every year to finish in the black. Eventually, they’d have nothing left. Our situation appears similar. We’ve returned profit two years in a row, but only with the stadium falling apart, our performances steadily worsening, our squad becoming steadily weaker, and our fanbase collapsing. For me, that’s not successful financial stewardship.

The final point I want to make also relates to finances. In the written questions, the board stated “The club sets a budget which aims to break even while assuming no cup progress or player sales.  Inevitably, of course, the playing budget tends to increase during the season to cope with injuries or deficiencies in the squad”. I read this to mean the board sets a budget which it thinks will inevitably get broken. That seems a pointless task, but okay. They go on to say “If there was a cash deficit, then this would be funded by the Directors”. However, with a lack of clarity about objectives, it begs the question: are they funding that to the level which puts us in the highest league possible, or just puts us self-sufficient, or allows us to mount a promotion challenge every season.

I say all the above as someone who has typically defended the board on this forum. I think a lot of people confuse the role of owner with the role of director. It is not the directors responsibility to put their own money into the club, and the fact they do is a great service to the club. Unfortunately, the performances both on and off the pitch mean questions have to be asked. There is clear room for improvement, and I think a good starting point would be to just look at a bit of market data and formulate a plan for what we're meant to be doing!

 

 

[Manwithnoball]

Why would we allow AJ to bring in more players just because he got lucky last year. He likes tinkering with players and their positions. He signed some promising players this year but still no one knows including him what his best formation and best players are. Who is going to loan us players and that drains their confidence even more.