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The Queen of the South thread


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I can't recall when I started disliking GM. But I can honestly say the day I was convinced we would be relegated was the Dundee game after Aberdeen when we conceded a late goal and drew. Having looked back, it was February so I possibly did want rid of GM as early as Jan! I can still see Dundee's leveller that day and I think it will stick with me forever as it was when I believed Id watch my team being relegated for the first time :-s

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I was pretty positive with the appointment at first and I was sure It was going to turn around after Parkin's signing as he looked a class above. It was an total thumping at home against Partick Thistle where I finally gave up on staying up, The amount of late goals was sickening, and it was too much effort to criticise Simmons and the utter wasters, Palmerston was like being at a training match it was that quiet. The contract offer was ridiculous, I'm not sure with that squad that Magic could have kept them up. But John Potter, John Bloody Potter! I'd rather Marvin Andrews than that waster.

I remember looking at the MAD site when they had "In Gus we Trust" signatures. Did any of the posters on here have one?

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If Gus gets the Dundee Utd gig does that mean we'll get to see Simmons back in the SPL where he (allegedly) belongs?

Well you never know, and just a short jaunt down the road from Peterheed for Scotty McLAUGHlin to join up with them as well.

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I can't recall when I started disliking GM. But I can honestly say the day I was convinced we would be relegated was the Dundee game after Aberdeen when we conceded a late goal and drew. Having looked back, it was February so I possibly did want rid of GM as early as Jan! I can still see Dundee's leveller that day and I think it will stick with me forever as it was when I believed Id watch my team being relegated for the first time :-s

Pretty much the same for me, really. I thought the signing of Parkin would make a big difference, it didnt but I dont remember when I turned.

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A couple of mates who were St Mirren fans couldn't wait to see the back of McPherson and had doubts about his ability to do the job at Palmerston.

I had exactly the same experience - chose to ignore them at the time and suggested we'd be top half for sure...

Live and learn, as they say!

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I had exactly the same experience - chose to ignore them at the time and suggested we'd be top half for sure...

Live and learn, as they say!

In Gus we trusted , but he let us all down

I read a article in the paper last week saying former Queens boss Kenny Brannigan was trying to fix Gus & Jimmy Calderwood up with a job across in Canada

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I'll be surprised if McPherson gets another significant managerial job.

Football has moved on a lot but I don't think he has.

I remember hearing stories allegedly coming from players a year past in December about a lot of unhappiness on the training ground and the dressing room.

I think I posted then that we were going down if the manager stayed.

That coincided with a rash of silly 'in Gus we trust' type posts.

All the excuses about lack of resources were trotted out but the bulk of the current squad were at Palmerston back then and properly managed they could have survived in Div 1.

When a manager however loses the dressing room (or a large part of it) a team is in real trouble. For that scenario there are only two solutions : a complete change of squad or the manager walks. The former was never a possibility and the latter unfortunately didn't happen.

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I'll be surprised if McPherson gets another significant managerial job.

Football has moved on a lot but I don't think he has.

I remember hearing stories allegedly coming from players a year past in December about a lot of unhappiness on the training ground and the dressing room.

I think I posted then that we were going down if the manager stayed.

That coincided with a rash of silly 'in Gus we trust' type posts.

All the excuses about lack of resources were trotted out but the bulk of the current squad were at Palmerston back then and properly managed they could have survived in Div 1.

When a manager however loses the dressing room (or a large part of it) a team is in real trouble. For that scenario there are only two solutions : a complete change of squad or the manager walks. The former was never a possibility and the latter unfortunately didn't happen.

I think thats the key to it. I wouldnt say Gus was alone in that, but there are several "old school" managers who will never get a job of any significance again. Look around at every level of the game and its the younger managers, playing actual football who are getting jobs and succeeding in them.

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The Walter Smith era of defensive long ball teams have gone. Ally McCoist is a dinosaur even though it's his first job. IMO this is potentially one of the greatest generation of young managers ever.

In the first division there is one manager over the age of fifty and four under 40

In division 2 there are 7 managers under 40 plus Mckinnon at aged 42

An SPL team will soon have to take a chance on one of these mangers, Hearts (No Money though), Dundee Utd and Aberdeen (Craig Brown isn't going to be a manager that much longer) will be the most likely to have a job openings causing concern for us.

Gus McPherson is only 44, he'll get another job IMO

Edited by Sloop John B
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I suppose I gave Gus longer than I should have done. This was because I'd backed him from the start and also because we didn't seem that far from being competitive. We were never 'good' or worth watching, but for a long time, we were largely very much alive in poor, stifled games, before losing at the end. I thought the late goals thing couldn't last forever, but it became self-fulfilling and just continued.

There was a tipping point, different for each of us I suppose, where losing these games stopped being unfortunate and became an issue attached to how our team was being run. I remember posting at one point, something about how just as good teams can play poorly and win; poor teams can match their opponents yet lose. Every week.

There was a week in February when it really looked bad. We lost a very late equaliser at Ayr in a six pointer, lost to Aberdeen midweek to a last minute goal in our best performance, and lost another very late equaliser at home to Dundee on the Saturday. It might have been different, but wasn't, and was a bleak week, leavened only by Rangers entering administration.

I'd lost faith in Gus long before I'd given up hope of us surviving. When the teams near us started getting some wins though, we couldn't respond and got what we deserved.

It's also true that Gus has become a much worse Queens manager since he left. Many of our best players this season were also around last term and the difference in their deployment and performance has been truly remarkable.

Part of me still suspects Gus isn't that awful and AJ isn't that wonderful, but I'd struggle to defend that part right now.

Edited by Monkey Tennis
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I suppose I gave Gus longer than I should have done. This was because I'd backed him from the start and also because we didn't seem that far from being competitive. We were never 'good' or worth watching, but for a long time, we were largely very much alive in poor, stifled games, before losing at the end. I thought the late goals thing couldn't last forever, but it became self-fulfilling and just continued.

There was a tipping point, different for each of us I suppose, where losing these games stopped being unfortunate and became an issue attached to how our team was being run. I remember posting at one point, something about how just as good teams can play poorly and win; poor teams can match their opponents yet lose. Every week.

There was a week in February when it really looked bad. We lost a very late equaliser at Ayr in a six pointer, lost to Aberdeen midweek to a last minute goal in our best performance, and lost another very late equaliser at home to Dundee on the Saturday. It might have been different, but wasn't, and was a bleak week, leavened only by Rangers entering administration.

I'd lost faith in Gus long before I'd given up hope of us surviving. When the teams near us started getting some wins though, we couldn't respond and got what we deserved.

It's also true that Gus has become a much worse Queens manager since he left. Many of our best players this season were also around last term and the difference in their deployment and performance has been truly remarkable.

Part of me still suspects Gus isn't that awful and AJ isn't that wonderful, but I'd struggle to defend that part right now.

Obviously, we're in a lower league which has to be a factor. However, the performances against 1st and SPL teams (as well as Rangers) would suggest this team is significantly better than last seasons. A big, big part of that is down to the manager.

It'll be very interesting to see what happens in the Challenge Cup final. If Partick recover from their recent dip in form and mount a challenge at the top of the 1st and we beat them, I think it will say a lot about where this team is. While reading too much into one off games can be dangerous, a win against Partick would reinforce the other performances against higher league opposition.

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I'll probably hold off judging AJ until next year and see how he does playing against first division teams week in week out but, looking at some of the teams in that league, Queens could be a mid table team at least next year if they hold the squad together.

In terms of performances against higher ranked , my rankings go like this:

Hibs

Dundee Utd (Completely dominated after they scored and should have got something from that game)

Morton

Killie (Sending off changed the game, and we adapted well but the two goals were really ones to concede)

Dumbarton

Edited by Sloop John B
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Yeah that is correct, we are going to give you cash and a player for a player not as good as any of our four centre forwards.

That's assuming we still have the four of them at the close of the transfer window!

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