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The Queen of the South thread


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53 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!

 

An excellent post.  Would point out, though, that if the board doesn't have a plan then they won't know which data to look at anyway!  And they certainly don't seem to have a plan. At least, from the answers to the written questions, not one which involves actual footballing matters.

Except for this comment - "... the board is keen that contract extensions can be agreed over the next few months to provide greater continuity for next season."  which is rather worrying, given the current standard of product on the pitch.

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2 hours 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 .

 .

 

 

I even think last season's turnaround, although impressive, was actually fairly fleeting.

There's no doubt we had a great run in what was the middle third.  It started with that unlikely win at Raith after Christmas and pretty much ended with another one at Tynecastle.  

Our final third was almost as bad as the first one though, and very nearly got us back into trouble.

The vast bulk of this manager's reign has been pretty rotten.

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39 minutes ago, Manwithnoball said:

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. 

Clubs will loan players to get them experience and game time at a decent level.

Almost every loan player we have had has gone back to his club a better player .

Hopefully Rangers and Middlesbrough can help us out with loan players both clubs should be happy to send us players .

 

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17 minutes ago, qos1990 said:

He needs to be relieved of his duties now

Be assured that he will be relieved of his duties an hour or two after we are relegated.

The board are known for their swift and decisive action. 

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25 minutes ago, Monkey Tennis said:

I even think last season's turnaround, although impressive, was actually fairly fleeting.

There's no doubt we had a great run in what was the middle third.  It started with that unlikely win at Raith after Christmas and pretty much ended with another one at Tynecastle.  

Our final third was almost as bad as the first one though, and very nearly got us back into trouble.

The vast bulk of this manager's reign has been pretty rotten.

His points record per quarter (or third) each season is:
19/20 12; 13 and 3 (from the last 10 games)
20/21 4; 20 and 8
21/22 9; 8 and 0 (from 2 games so far)

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4 minutes ago, Flash said:

His points record per quarter (or third) each season is:
19/20 12; 13 and 3 (from the last 10 games)
20/21 4; 20 and 8
21/22 9; 8 and 0 (from 2 games so far)

When you consider that his spell followed a season in which we only survived via the play-offs and that our Cup record has been poor throughout, it points to a pretty prolonged joyless period for supporters.

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Squad just isn't good enough in my opinion.

When we are signing players from National/Conference leagues at young ages expecting them to compete consistently in the Championship we have no hope.

We signed a 21yo striker out of the National Leagues at the start of the season to lead the line for us. Crazy stuff.

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Squad just isn't good enough in my opinion.
When we are signing players from National/Conference leagues at young ages expecting them to compete consistently in the Championship we have no hope.
We signed a 21yo striker out of the National Leagues at the start of the season to lead the line for us. Crazy stuff.

He was from below the national leagues I think
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