The Queen of the South thread

[the_palmy_pie]

1 hour ago, qos1990 said:

Tell us what you really think

He takes a great selfie

[Greenacres]

AJ interview same crap every week we need to stop losing cheap goals be more of a threat going forward. 

A new problem is poor refs and Roberto.

That will go his confidence good his manager having a go at him.

There were a few players a lot worse than Roberto yesterday .

On new signing there are options out there but really he has not a clue what he is doing.

 New manager fresh ideas is that worth the gamble 

 

[Slipmat]

17 hours ago, Greenacres said:

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 .

 

17 hours 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 .

 

12 minutes ago, Greenacres said:

AJ interview same crap every week we need to stop losing cheap goals be more of a threat going forward. 

A new problem is poor refs and Roberto.

That will go his confidence good his manager having a go at him.

There were a few players a lot worse than Roberto yesterday .

On new signing there are options out there but really he has not a clue what he is doing.

 New manager fresh ideas is that worth the gamble 

 

[Priti priti priti Patel]

This is the problem with having an institutional process whereby the directors consistently bail out the club for their own mistakes. The obvious decision of letting AJ go will cost them money personally. It's a clear conflict of interest. 

[Guest Flash]

15 hours ago, Monkey Tennis said:

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.

Warning  - this stuff is quite boring.
Had a wee look at his record just to see how it breaks down. I won’t bother setting out his record in the main cups, suffice to say 3 seasons of group stages in the League Cup and 1 win in 3 seasons in the Scottish Cup, losing at home to a L2 and a L1 side on an aggregate score of 0-5 in 2 of them.
3 consecutive seasons trying to avoid relegation.
So, if the target is to challenge for promotion, he’s missed that by miles. If the target is to stay up and have a run in either of the main cups, he’s missed that as well. So, the target can only be to stay up.
Anyway, his league record is

P75 W20 D17 L38 Pts77 PPG 1.03
Lost more than half of his league games in charge. Won just over a quarter.

His overall record against teams at the different levels in all competitions

Premiership P4 W0 D1 L3
Championship P79 W22 D19 L38
League 1 P11 W4 D3 L4
League 2 P5 W3 D1 L1
Lowland League P 1 W1 D0 L0
 

Edited January 9, 2022 by Flash

[Otis Blue]

2 hours ago, A-Mac said:

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.

But there's two contributory factors at play here isn't there?

1 - To be fair to AJ - do you think that he shops around the bargain basement leagues by choice?  I'm sure that given the chance he'd much rather be trying to sign the Zak Ruddens of this world, of course he would - but he's curtailed by his budget in both size and quality. So he has to be inventive as to how he gets the best out of his budget. The budget of course is set by the BOD and not by AJ.  So we should criticise the BOD, simples.  However, here is where reality kicks in - we don't have a large (by Championship standards) income stream, and what we did have has been hit by the pandemic - add in that poorer quality squads in recent seasons has meant a less attractive product on the pitch and you get dwindling crowds which further impact the budget - a vicious circle.

2 - The quality and ability of AJ and his team (also to be fair - a selection constrained by the BOD's budget).  There will be an argument that a "special" coach with good motivational skills (all eyes on "The Bunnet" here) can get the max. out of a fairly mundane squad.  However, AJ's media clips don't give the impression that he's exactly Mr Motivator behind the scenes.  Reminds me of my son's coach in the Lanarkshire teenage leagues ... " aw c'moan guys, ye've goat tae dae better .... it'll no dae".  Inspiring stuff.

So everything keeps coming back to budgets - surprise, surprise, it is a professional sport after all.  Better budget provides a better management team (we're never going to be in the McInnes/Ross bracket) and a larger/better quality squad.  No secret that the smaller clubs with the smaller budgets tend to be perennially in the dogfight at the bottom end of the table.  That said, in football money doesn't guarantee success - just ask the Pars this season or Falkirk.

What's the fix?  Increase the budget?  Take a risk with the financial stability of the club?  Ask the BOD to inject their own dosh - why should they?  Find a significant outside investor a la Ross County, Q Park, Cove, Kelty etc. - not many of those around and even less with an interest in the Dumfries area; plus you run the risk of a Gretna style bubble ..... and bubbles eventually always burst with pretty bad consequences.

I can't see AJ leaving soon, I think the only hope just now is pulling some "rabbits out of the January window hat" .... which I think is the AJ/BOD strategy.  Unfortunately, we don't have Dykes/Dobbie to get us through a relegation play-off this time.

[Priti priti priti Patel]

10 minutes ago, Flash said:

League 1 P11 W4 D3 L4

An average of 1.36 PPG. We would have finished 7th in League One last season. 

[Otis Blue]

37 minutes ago, Slipmat said:

Ace gif ..... watched Pulp Fiction again the other week ..... what a film! 

[A-Mac]

44 minutes ago, Otis Blue said:

But there's two contributory factors at play here isn't there?

1 - To be fair to AJ - do you think that he shops around the bargain basement leagues by choice?  I'm sure that given the chance he'd much rather be trying to sign the Zak Ruddens of this world, of course he would - but he's curtailed by his budget in both size and quality. So he has to be inventive as to how he gets the best out of his budget. The budget of course is set by the BOD and not by AJ.  So we should criticise the BOD, simples.  However, here is where reality kicks in - we don't have a large (by Championship standards) income stream, and what we did have has been hit by the pandemic - add in that poorer quality squads in recent seasons has meant a less attractive product on the pitch and you get dwindling crowds which further impact the budget - a vicious circle.

2 - The quality and ability of AJ and his team (also to be fair - a selection constrained by the BOD's budget).  There will be an argument that a "special" coach with good motivational skills (all eyes on "The Bunnet" here) can get the max. out of a fairly mundane squad.  However, AJ's media clips don't give the impression that he's exactly Mr Motivator behind the scenes.  Reminds me of my son's coach in the Lanarkshire teenage leagues ... " aw c'moan guys, ye've goat tae dae better .... it'll no dae".  Inspiring stuff.

So everything keeps coming back to budgets - surprise, surprise, it is a professional sport after all.  Better budget provides a better management team (we're never going to be in the McInnes/Ross bracket) and a larger/better quality squad.  No secret that the smaller clubs with the smaller budgets tend to be perennially in the dogfight at the bottom end of the table.  That said, in football money doesn't guarantee success - just ask the Pars this season or Falkirk.

What's the fix?  Increase the budget?  Take a risk with the financial stability of the club?  Ask the BOD to inject their own dosh - why should they?  Find a significant outside investor a la Ross County, Q Park, Cove, Kelty etc. - not many of those around and even less with an interest in the Dumfries area; plus you run the risk of a Gretna style bubble ..... and bubbles eventually always burst with pretty bad consequences.

I can't see AJ leaving soon, I think the only hope just now is pulling some "rabbits out of the January window hat" .... which I think is the AJ/BOD strategy.  Unfortunately, we don't have Dykes/Dobbie to get us through a relegation play-off this time.

I don't disagree with anything you are saying ultimately, maybe this is just where the squad/club is at? Maybe we are League 1 level as a club right now? 

Personally I think the club should heavily focus on keeping a strong connection with Boro, do anything to have players sent to Palmerston every season on loan. Given the financial circumstances it would be a win for the club, we get a quality talent that can more than match Championship level, while not breaking the budget.

There needs to be change on levels at the club, from the BOD to the manager. But as you say, it comes down to budget.

[ALOREBURNE]

1 hour ago, A-Mac said:

 

Personally I think the club should heavily focus on keeping a strong connection with Boro, do anything to have players sent to Palmerston every season on loan. 

In the paper today that we’re after 4 new signings. 

[19QOS19]

In the paper today that we’re after 4 new signings. 

Rather than spend money on 4 more players can we put it towards getting rid of the charlatan in charge?

[JK_Queens]

2 hours ago, Otis Blue said:

But there's two contributory factors at play here isn't there?

1 - To be fair to AJ - do you think that he shops around the bargain basement leagues by choice?  I'm sure that given the chance he'd much rather be trying to sign the Zak Ruddens of this world, of course he would - but he's curtailed by his budget in both size and quality. So he has to be inventive as to how he gets the best out of his budget. The budget of course is set by the BOD and not by AJ.  So we should criticise the BOD, simples.  However, here is where reality kicks in - we don't have a large (by Championship standards) income stream, and what we did have has been hit by the pandemic - add in that poorer quality squads in recent seasons has meant a less attractive product on the pitch and you get dwindling crowds which further impact the budget - a vicious circle.

2 - The quality and ability of AJ and his team (also to be fair - a selection constrained by the BOD's budget).  There will be an argument that a "special" coach with good motivational skills (all eyes on "The Bunnet" here) can get the max. out of a fairly mundane squad.  However, AJ's media clips don't give the impression that he's exactly Mr Motivator behind the scenes.  Reminds me of my son's coach in the Lanarkshire teenage leagues ... " aw c'moan guys, ye've goat tae dae better .... it'll no dae".  Inspiring stuff.

So everything keeps coming back to budgets - surprise, surprise, it is a professional sport after all.  Better budget provides a better management team (we're never going to be in the McInnes/Ross bracket) and a larger/better quality squad.  No secret that the smaller clubs with the smaller budgets tend to be perennially in the dogfight at the bottom end of the table.  That said, in football money doesn't guarantee success - just ask the Pars this season or Falkirk.

What's the fix?  Increase the budget?  Take a risk with the financial stability of the club?  Ask the BOD to inject their own dosh - why should they?  Find a significant outside investor a la Ross County, Q Park, Cove, Kelty etc. - not many of those around and even less with an interest in the Dumfries area; plus you run the risk of a Gretna style bubble ..... and bubbles eventually always burst with pretty bad consequences.

I can't see AJ leaving soon, I think the only hope just now is pulling some "rabbits out of the January window hat" .... which I think is the AJ/BOD strategy.  Unfortunately, we don't have Dykes/Dobbie to get us through a relegation play-off this time.

Absolutely spot on. I was going to type out a very similar post last night. 
 

The Board are not immune to criticism, there’s stuff that could undoubtedly be done better, but they should be congratulated for keeping the club on a stable financial footing over the last couple of very difficult years and still maintaining our championship status. Same goes for AJ. His team selections, tactics and mundane platitudes in the media interviews frustrate me greatly. He has overall for me done ok though with what’s available at his disposal. If we are bottom in the next 2/3 months I’d roll the dice to stay up, but he has my support for now. 
 

It’s not popular and often pretty to watch, but this is where we are as a club right now. Are our average attendances this year not the lowest in the league? This is our main income stream and this impacts the quality of side we can put out on the pitch. If we stay up this season, that’s a success for me. League 1 is not the same league 1 we got relegated to last time, we wouldn’t be favourites to go back up. 
 

Begs the question, how can we reverse the current cycle? Improving attendances somehow for one, we should for me get better crowds given the catchment area. The junior blue incentives are good. I’d like to see the youth set up reap some rewards also. It’s no coincidence that our best seasons came when we had players progressing from the youth set up.
 

Obviously if we can get somebody who’s willing to plough money into the club without return then ideal, but doesn’t seem very likely. It’s maybe the accountant in me, but we need to work with what we have financially and try to keep the club competing at the highest level possible. Having a club to support is far more important than success and shouldn’t take that for granted - ‘save our south’ wasn’t so long ago. 
 

[TERREGLES1919]

Perpetual recent seasons of struggling against relegation isn't good at all.

If Queens were to go down to the Seaside League One, at least the club would have a better chance of winning games and staying in the top 4.

Even if the club languishes there for a few seasons, like Falkirk, this may not be such a bad thing and could well be the wake up call that the club needs. Whether they would remain a full time club would be another matter.

[Manwithnoball]

Wow he did not miss Nditi in that interview. Bet you he still starts at Inverness though. 

He constantly plays him out of position then expects him just to slot back in when AJ requires him to. I don't understand why Nditi plays in midfield I don't get it. Why not play Nditi at the back and play Gibson in middle it would give the team some experience in the middle of the park. Max is looking reasonably solid at RB.  Yesterday when we went to back 5 I did not understand how the rest of the team were playing. My problem with us just now is we just seem to be punting and chasing. We have got guys that can pass the ball. Why not play to our strengths? Connelly must have touched the ball less than 10 times yesterday and that try from inside his half summed up our while game. Todd was the only player willing to travel with the ball on the deck. 

 

[sidofthesouth]

But there's two contributory factors at play here isn't there?
1 - To be fair to AJ - do you think that he shops around the bargain basement leagues by choice?  I'm sure that given the chance he'd much rather be trying to sign the Zak Ruddens of this world, of course he would - but he's curtailed by his budget in both size and quality. So he has to be inventive as to how he gets the best out of his budget. The budget of course is set by the BOD and not by AJ.  So we should criticise the BOD, simples.  However, here is where reality kicks in - we don't have a large (by Championship standards) income stream, and what we did have has been hit by the pandemic - add in that poorer quality squads in recent seasons has meant a less attractive product on the pitch and you get dwindling crowds which further impact the budget - a vicious circle.
2 - The quality and ability of AJ and his team (also to be fair - a selection constrained by the BOD's budget).  There will be an argument that a "special" coach with good motivational skills (all eyes on "The Bunnet" here) can get the max. out of a fairly mundane squad.  However, AJ's media clips don't give the impression that he's exactly Mr Motivator behind the scenes.  Reminds me of my son's coach in the Lanarkshire teenage leagues ... " aw c'moan guys, ye've goat tae dae better .... it'll no dae".  Inspiring stuff.
So everything keeps coming back to budgets - surprise, surprise, it is a professional sport after all.  Better budget provides a better management team (we're never going to be in the McInnes/Ross bracket) and a larger/better quality squad.  No secret that the smaller clubs with the smaller budgets tend to be perennially in the dogfight at the bottom end of the table.  That said, in football money doesn't guarantee success - just ask the Pars this season or Falkirk.
What's the fix?  Increase the budget?  Take a risk with the financial stability of the club?  Ask the BOD to inject their own dosh - why should they?  Find a significant outside investor a la Ross County, Q Park, Cove, Kelty etc. - not many of those around and even less with an interest in the Dumfries area; plus you run the risk of a Gretna style bubble ..... and bubbles eventually always burst with pretty bad consequences.
I can't see AJ leaving soon, I think the only hope just now is pulling some "rabbits out of the January window hat" .... which I think is the AJ/BOD strategy.  Unfortunately, we don't have Dykes/Dobbie to get us through a relegation play-off this time.

Good post and some good points made. I think the BOD were also on record as saying they wanted to go with a younger squad this season, so again that may have influenced/dictated the type of player AJ was able to bring in. I think it has backfired, as we look disorganised & naive a lot of the time in this league, something that would be helped by having a better balance of experience in the squad

[19QOS19]

Wow he did not miss Nditi in that interview. Bet you he still starts at Inverness though. 
He constantly plays him out of position then expects him just to slot back in when AJ requires him to. I don't understand why Nditi plays in midfield I don't get it. Why not play Nditi at the back and play Gibson in middle it would give the team some experience in the middle of the park. Max is looking reasonably solid at RB.  Yesterday when we went to back 5 I did not understand how the rest of the team were playing. My problem with us just now is we just seem to be punting and chasing. We have got guys that can pass the ball. Why not play to our strengths? Connelly must have touched the ball less than 10 times yesterday and that try from inside his half summed up our while game. Todd was the only player willing to travel with the ball on the deck. 
 

Aye I liked that part/s. He plays a boy out of position week on week and then goes on to throw the boy under the bus. No self blame for the fact we were as threatening as a wounded butterfly yesterday though?

Everyone's fault but his own.

[Rjc-1988]

1 hour ago, 19QOS19 said:

Aye I liked that part/s. He plays a boy out of position week on week and then goes on to throw the boy under the bus. No self blame for the fact we were as threatening as a wounded butterfly yesterday though?

Everyone's fault but his own.

The reason why the Manager cannot trust Nditi at CB should be pretty obvious by now:-

A daft penalty conceded against  ICT

A sending off at Cove for a rash challenge deep in his own half which cost us big time

Two daft free kicks conceded at EEP in dangerous positions which both led to goals

Allowed Hughes to run uncontested into penalty box from a simple throw in leading to a terrible refereeing blunder

Allowed Shaw to get wrong side of him and then needlessly fouled him leading to another refereeing howler

 

Nditi played much of the time for Forfar at RB. I think there is a player in there but let’s not pretend that it’s some sort of big injustice that he is not playing at CB. 
 

If you are prone to diving in and committing fouls as he has proved the deeper you deploy the player the more likely it is that he will concede penalties, dangerous free kicks and get red cards.

 

[Manwithnoball]

41 minutes ago, Rjc-1988 said:

The reason why the Manager cannot trust Nditi at CB should be pretty obvious by now:-

A daft penalty conceded against  ICT

A sending off at Cove for a rash challenge deep in his own half which cost us big time

Two daft free kicks conceded at EEP in dangerous positions which both led to goals

Allowed Hughes to run uncontested into penalty box from a simple throw in leading to a terrible refereeing blunder

Allowed Shaw to get wrong side of him and then needlessly fouled him leading to another refereeing howler

 

Nditi played much of the time for Forfar at RB. I think there is a player in there but let’s not pretend that it’s some sort of big injustice that he is not playing at CB. 
 

If you are prone to diving in and committing fouls as he has proved the deeper you deploy the player the more likely it is that he will concede penalties, dangerous free kicks and get red cards.

 

But he was signed as a CB playing him LB and CM. Debayo signed as a left back now CB. East signed as a forward now CB. Gibson a RB playing every where. Paton a forward playing RM. There is a pattern!!

[Rjc-1988]

23 minutes ago, Manwithnoball said:

But he was signed as a CB playing him LB and CM. Debayo signed as a left back now CB. East signed as a forward now CB. Gibson a RB playing every where. Paton a forward playing RM. There is a pattern!!

[Skyline Drifter]

34 minutes ago, Manwithnoball said:

But he was signed as a CB playing him LB and CM. Debayo signed as a left back now CB. East signed as a forward now CB. Gibson a RB playing every where. Paton a forward playing RM. There is a pattern!!

Was he indeed? Did the manager consult you on this before he signed him? He wasn't even playing regularly at centre back for Forfar.

He played pre-season in central midfield after signing. He dropped into centre back for the League Cup group games as McKay wasn't fit, Broadfoot chose to go to Inverness and we'd signed nobody else at that point. He was playing alongside Scott Dunn and Euan East. When the League season started he was at left back. How many games has he actually played at centre back? Very few, most of his games back there were at sweeper behind McKay and Debayo when we played a three.

And I don't think Debayo was signed any more as a left back than as a centre back either. It was known he could play either role and we already had Alex Cooper at the club for left back.

Gibson can play anywhere other than goal and still probably be our best player. 12 months ago people were moaning about playing a winger / midfielder at right back. Now you're moaning he's a Right Back. He doesn't need pigeonholed as anything in particular although ideally I'd like two established centre backs in place so he can be more influential on the ball, whether that be from full back or central midfield, particularly in the continuing absence of Cochrane.