Ross County v Queens

[Northfield 53]

Any team that finishs above Ross County will win the league .

They have the best squad so this will be a difficult game .

Looks like we will be without Dobbie as well we will set up 4-5 -1  go looking for a draw would rather us go for a win but that is not the Naysmith way.

If we somehow get a draw that would be a great result 

[Comrie]

Really need to keep winning, just do not seen Ayr losing at the minute. 

Same team as the Alloa win, please. If our finishing is a little more clinical there's no reason why we can't win this game.

[Distant Doonhamer]

17 minutes ago, Comrie said:

Really need to keep winning, just do not seen Ayr losing at the minute. 

Same team as the Alloa win, please. If our finishing is a little more clinical there's no reason why we can't win this game.

Other than missing a striker who has 29 goals so far this season we should hopefully be pretty much at full strength for this 

[Northfield 53]

Just can't see Queens scoring without Dobbie it would be a amazing result to even get a draw against a very good Ross County side .

 

[bunglebonce]

Is he definitely out?  I would guess that even minor hamstring strains need a couple of weeks’ rest as a precaution. 

[bunglebonce]

According to the P&J the other day Gardyne should be in full training this week.  However SFSK have preferred to give long term injured players a few weeks in training without throwing them back in. 

[yoda]

I wasn’t overly impressed by McManus playing wide against Alloa but that might be due to the narrow(er) pitch.

Assuming Morris and Vigurs are fit, I’m not really sure how the team changes. Vigurs in for Cowie is reasonable, but none of the back four should be dropped to accommodate Morris. 4-5-1 is likely but I’d like to see Graham (or Ross Stewart) get a run next to Mckay.

Hopefully Dobbie being out allows County to not focus on stopping him - I wasn’t at Dumfries but it sounds like that was the game plan there. 

[Steeplechat]

Just can't see Queens scoring without Dobbie it would be a amazing result to even get a draw against a very good Ross County side .
 

We’ve done it before & we can do it again Rodney you plonker.

[Fae_the_'briggs]

6 hours ago, Northfield 53 said:

Just can't see Queens scoring without Dobbie it would be a amazing result to even get a draw against a very good Ross County side .

 

Do you write Naysmith's pre- match press statements, he bigs up the opposition as much as you do.  As Steeplechat says,  we've won games when Dobbie's been unavailable before, no reason we can't at least give it a good try here. We do need to stop treating the ball like a hot tattie though and not just thump it anywhere just to get rid of it.  A wee bit of composure to look up and try and make a pass to a player wearing the same colour jersey would be good. 

[QoS_Blue1919]

We went to Tannadice last season and won without Dobbie playing. Dykes was fantastic that game, ran the United back 4 into the ground, especially Durnan and Ralston. However, this County defence will be considerably tougher to break down, but by no means impossible.

I’d be going 4-5-1, with Dykes up top and Harkins not far off him, making it more of a 4-4-1-1. Norman and Jacobs in CM, hopefully Todd is fit after supposedly not training at the start of the week according to Naysmith. Would be tempted to drop Mercer for Semple and play Fordyce at RB, but wouldn’t be overly fussed if Mercer starts.

[Rjc-1988]

Do you write Naysmith's pre- match press statements, he bigs up the opposition as much as you do.  As Steeplechat says,  we've won games when Dobbie's been unavailable before, no reason we can't at least give it a good try here. We do need to stop treating the ball like a hot tattie though and not just thump it anywhere just to get rid of it.  A wee bit of composure to look up and try and make a pass to a player wearing the same colour jersey would be good. 

Couldn’t agree more. Ross County are unquestionably a good solid Championship side and this fixture is one of the toughest in the calendar BUT even without Dobbie the match is winnable so long as we give ourselves a fighting chance of doing so.

Talking about the opposition in glowing terms and then setting the team up as though we are playing Barca at the Nou Camp are two tactics that will certainly not help our cause. If the bookmakers have got their calculations correct Ross County have a 65% chance of winning the game which hardly makes our proposition “mission impossible”.

[Savage Henry]

13 hours ago, yoda said:

I wasn’t overly impressed by McManus playing wide against Alloa but that might be due to the narrow(er) pitch.

Assuming Morris and Vigurs are fit, I’m not really sure how the team changes. Vigurs in for Cowie is reasonable, but none of the back four should be dropped to accommodate Morris. 4-5-1 is likely but I’d like to see Graham (or Ross Stewart) get a run next to Mckay.

Hopefully Dobbie being out allows County to not focus on stopping him - I wasn’t at Dumfries but it sounds like that was the game plan there. 

I saw a picture of Morris the other day doing some event at the shop.  He had a soft cast on his arm - still too bulky to play in.  I'd be kind of surprised if he plays. But if he is fit, clearly he's going to come in for Grivosti - rightly or wrongly.

Another winger and a centre back at Christmas, please, Santa.

[bunglebonce]

Morris played in the last home match with a cast on, he was subbed off due to a hamstring complaint rather than anything to do with his wrist.

[Fae_the_'briggs]

Naysmith's pre- match team talk:

"Right lads,  Ross County today.  They've got great players all over the park and plenty of good players on the bench if needed.  It's going to be a tough game, they're favourites for promotion so just go out and try not to embarrass yourselves.  Andy Stirling,   you'll be getting hooked with 15 minutes left even if your playing well and we look like we might get a freak result.  If we get beat it'll be because you lot never followed my instructions,  it won't be my fault at all. Oh and if the ball comes to any of you just f*@&ing belt it anywhere,  there's a slight chance it might fall to a teammate.   Here's how we'll  set-up lads but if anybody asks. we were going in with a positive approach."

. . . . . . . . . . . . .   Martin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mercer. .  Fordyce .  Doyle. . Marshall. .  Stirling. . . . Jacobs. . Norman. ..  Todd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Harkins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dykes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

 

[Dumfries Boy(new acc)]

How's the weather in Dingwall? No chance of what happened to inverness happening to us I hope?

[bunglebonce]

Very wet but the pitch drainage has been excellent for a few years now.

[H Wragg]

Just jumping into the thread to point out that the 2015 Inverness to Queen Street is showing as terminating at Perth due to no train crew.

 

 

🥴 - Me trying to decide if this is relevant or not.

[Skyline Drifter]

7 hours ago, H Wragg said:

Just jumping into the thread to point out that the 2015 Inverness to Queen Street is showing as terminating at Perth due to no train crew.

 

 

 - Me trying to decide if this is relevant or not.

There appear to be a lot of train issues at the moment. I have a group of colleagues due to go to the game who are booked up and down by train and dont know if they will be able to get there yet.

[Comrie]

The weather isn't as bad as it was yesterday in Inverness, anyway. Was pretty lousy in Dingwall last night.

[palmy_cammy]

Do you write Naysmith's pre- match press statements, he bigs up the opposition as much as you do.  As Steeplechat says,  we've won games when Dobbie's been unavailable before, no reason we can't at least give it a good try here. We do need to stop treating the ball like a hot tattie though and not just thump it anywhere just to get rid of it.  A wee bit of composure to look up and try and make a pass to a player wearing the same colour jersey would be good. 

Fair play for your persistence, but it looks like it’s only you that gets wound up by that so maybe time to stop bringing it up every week.

He’s clearly going to be asked questions relating to our next opponents ahead of each respective match. If the biggest criticism we have of Naysmith is him throwing out a few cliches about “no easy matches in this division” and “x is always a tough place to go” then we are doing alright.

Couldn’t agree more on the ball retention thing though. We’re a team of panic merchants with the ball. We capitulate against any team that presses us. Harkins who was brought in to improve this was probably the main offender last week. Someone needs to tell him he’s too slow to run by people and to use his brilliant passing ability instead.