Rate Your Manager's Signings

[Ludo*1]

6 month have gone by and how have your current batch of new signings settled in?  Partick Thistle & Ayr fans can discuss their previous manager's signings obviously.

On a Dundee front, here's my personal thoughts:

Sean Mackie - Horrific player. Just completely out of his depth. 1/10.

Josh McPake - Clear to see he has some talent, but absolutely nowhere near ready for this level and will likely not be wanted back after his initial loan ends in January. 3/10

Jordon Forster - Horrific CH. Not many redeeming features other than he's competitive in the air. 3/10

Jamie Ness - Had some bright spots and was a cracking signing on paper, but so far proving to be a very expensive flop. Hopeful he'll show his importance and get over his injury hell. 4/10

Shaun Byrne - Largely anonymous when he plays. Contributes little. Unsure if it's him or McPake's utilisation though.  4/10

Jordan McGhee - Probably going to be a large contender for our PotY if he keeps it up. One of our few big bright spots. 9/10

Jordan Marshall - As above. Very consistent. Has a cracking cross and full of energy. Massively impressed and surprised consider the QotS reviews when he joined. 9/10

Kane Hemmings - Starting to finally get into his groove. Looks excellent when he has service, which has been a rarity. 7/10

Danny Johnson - A goalscorer and can hold it up. Been impressed. 6.5/10

Graham Dorrans - Should be the stand out player in this division and whilst it is clear he is a class above at times, he hasn't begun to assert his dominance in midfield often enough. 7.5/10 (With expectation that he'll be much closer to a 9 by the season's end)

Declan McDaid - Frustrating, but on his day a game changer for us. Very inconsistent, but a player I enjoy watching. 7/10

Connor Hazard - Done what was asked. No complaints. 5/10.

Not including Josh Todd as he was technically McIntyre's signing.

 

[football maniac]

Queen of the South

Robby McCrorie: Hes a breath of fresh air in comparison to Martin. A big commanding presence who the defence trust. Can make some phenomenal saves. Has a massive future in the game considering hes so young. Prone to the odd howler but then most keepers are. Also needs to work on his distribution as while it is in the main Ok, there is room for improvment. 7.5/10

Lee Kilday: When he signed me and probably lots of others were abit "meh" about the thought of signing a guy punted by Morton. How wrong we were though as he has been an excellent signing. His reading of the game is second to none and his distribution is neat and tidy. Must tie him up. 8/10

Kevin Holt: I view him as an upgrade on Marshall. He has been good in the main without quite hitting the heights of his last spell. He has however improved massively over the last few months having initially looked a little off the pace and is starting to become an attacking threat again. 7/10

Andrew McCarthy: Limited game time and from what we've seen its been for good reason. A panic signing and sadly it shows 3/10

Dan Pybus: I think hes been terrific! So much energy and when his passing game is on point he looks the complete midfielder. The ultimate compliment I can give him is I see shades of Steve Bowey in him. Excellent 8/10

Michael Paton: Nowhere near as bad as many were expecting. Hes turned in some decent performances and you would imagine given his stock was low he will be on a low wage. Provides some guile we sometimes lack. A good squad player. 5.5/6/10

Lewis Kidd: A selfless player. Willing to do the dirty work and track runners, while in turn being happy to give the simple ball to the more creative players. An underated squad member who has done fine. 6/10

Abdul Osman: Hes useful as a midfield anchor and has the added bonus of being tall and snuffing out danger with his good positional sense. I feel he lacks a bit of mobility at times though and games can pass him by. Not bad 5.5/10

Darren Lyon: Just not quite happened for him here yet. He clearly has pace but needs abit more belief on the ball and to stop playing the ultra safe pass as it can be very frustrating to watch. A victim of being shifted from pillar to post and I feel he needs a sustained run in his favoured position before we can truly judge. Its been hard to forgive his awful contribution at Ayr though on his debut when he was nowhere near ready for action. 5.5/10

Faiss: I just love watching him in action. Even when hes having a quiet game, you cant ever rule him out of doing something special. Not only can he do mesmeric trickery, he also works his backside off getting up and down the pitch and offers incredible quality on the delivery, especially from set pieces. His finishing though has been the one thing that has let him down. We must try and keep him as an indispensable squad member. 8.5/10

Jack Hamilton: I think he has something. Hes very useful at linking play and he was the player who helped get Dobbie back on form. Hes only 19 and has a good touch and at times can link up play effectively. Inconsistent but thats to be expected. 6/10

Gary Oliver: I feel he has at times been harshly treated. There have been games where he has been very good, then after 1 average game he is then sidelined for fairly long spells. If he was the main figure up front I feel he could contribute alot, but sadly for him hes competing with god and theres only 1 winner there. Played really well against Partick in his absence, but it remains to be seen if Johnston would consider them as a pair. 5.5/10 

[HoBNob]

It's a wonder Queen of the South are doing so shite with such a good set of summer signings. 

[D'Jaffo]

Kris Doolan - Not played much recently but looked finished when he first arrived apart from one game against Thistle. I think we thought McCall would be able to get him back to his best but he’s been nowhere near good enough for us. Likely back to Thistle in January. 2/10

Sam Roscoe - Decent enough if a bit rough around the edges. He’s been unfortunate in that he’s played most of his games next to Muirhead. He looks like he could develop into a good player. 5/10

Jordan Houston - Wasn’t really sure what to expect but he’s pretty good. Gets up and down the pitch pretty well and I wouldn’t be against us renewing his loan for next season. 7/10

Frank Ross - Only featured in 2 games I think and they were in the league cup groups. Injured ever since and has already made his way back to Aberdeen. 0/10

Stephen Kelly - Our best signing by a country mile. Rangers fans did hype him up but even then he’s exceeded expectations. A brilliant attacking midfielder who’s chipped in with some really good goals. Dropped off a bit due to a slight positional change but he’ll be key for us for the rest of the season, if he’s still here that is. 9.5/10

Ross Doohan - Second year on loan with us. Almost broke the club clean sheet record last season but hasn’t quite hit the heights he previously reached although he effectively won us the game last Saturday and earned us a draw a few days before that so hopefully he’s turned a corner. 8/10

[QoS_Blue1919]

QoS:

McCrorie - 8.5/10
A few mistakes in his game, but is probably the main reason for us being 7th and not 9th/10th.

Kilday - 7.5/10
Gets bullied by the odd attacker, but a good competent CB at this level. Mid-table Championship probably right for him.

Semple - 3/10
Was class at us last season, but his spell at County and the gambling malarkey ruined him. Overweight, slow and a shadow of the player he was

Holt - 8.5/10
Took a month to settle in, but seeing the best of him now. A massive player for us.

Kidd - 6/10
Extremely average. Had a small run of form, but not the answer if we are to push promotion play-offs.

Lyon - 6/10.
Has played well recently until going off at home to Partick, taken a while to settle in.

Pybus - 7.5/10
A willing runner, and has done okay on the right being played out of position. Looks more of a box-to-box CM for me.

Osman - 6/10
There’s a recurring theme with extremely average central midfielders, Osman is in that category.

McCarthy - 4/10
Limited game time. Done well vs Ayr, that’s about it.

Paton - 5/10
Not really sure why we signed him. Hasn’t been as bad as I expected, but just doesn’t have the legs for this level anymore.

El Bakh - 7.5/10
7.5 may sound harsh considering he’s one of our better players, but he can’t finish his dinner. Creative, skilful and pacy, but there’s no point creating chances if you aren’t going to finish them.

Oliver - 6/10
Again, another average player at this level. Scored a couple, and has decent hold-up play, but hasn’t linked well with Dobbie.

Hamilton 6.5/10
Slightly better than Oliver for me. Had to wait for his chance, but has played ok next to Dobbie. Out injured for a month, but fit again.

We’re pretty average this season. If El Bakh could score, and we had at least 1 quality centre-mid, we’d probably be fourth or higher.
Sadly we don’t, and we aren’t.

[Rob1885]

Class: Kevin Nisbet, Ryan Dow.
Decent: Aaron Comrie, Greg Kiltie, Paul Paton
Average: Kyle Turner, Harry Cochrane, Josh Edwards
Sub-standard: Josh Coley, Gabby McGill
Cant judge: Euan Murray, Anthony Macdonald

[cilitbang]

Ross Docherty. Without kicking a ball, has already caused tears and snotters. 10/10

[Skyline Drifter]

2 hours ago, Ludo*1 said:

Jordan Marshall - As above. Very consistent. Has a cracking cross and full of energy. Massively impressed and surprised consider the QotS reviews when he joined. 9/10

Really? Not sure what reviews you got. On the contrary I think most Queens fans, 19QOS19 apart, rated Marsh highly. We wanted to keep him. He did very well for us. The disappointment of his departure though was outweighed by Kevin Holt's return so our fans werent that gutted he went but I think it would be wrong to suggest we didnt rate him.

Holt is better, bigger and more of a threat in the opposition box though. And he is one of our own, a Queens fan all his life. 

[srw]

• Shaun Byrne - 4 year deal for a player who doesn't seem to do anything 1/10
• Sean Mackie - one of the worst players to play for us, and that says something 2/10
• Josh McPake - cant do anything, might come good in a few years time, headless unenergetic chicken 2/10
• Jordon Forster - liked the look of him when he signed, but I was very wrong, he is just awful really 3/10
• Josh Todd - never performs when he has started, not am impact sub, a bit blah 3/10
• Jamie Ness - yet another crock who sees the physio more than the pitch, typical Dundee signing 3/10
• Connor Hazard - did ok, but wouldn't really want him back 4/10
• Graham Dorrans - the odd excellent pass here and there, for someone of his calibre, he should dominate games, but doesn't 5/10
• Declan McDaid - gets both a 3/10 and a 7/10, depending on which version turns up, overall a 5/10
• Jordan Marshall - impressed by him, hopefully his injury layoff was a one off 6/10
• Danny Johnson - seems to impress, then get dropped, done quite well 6/10
• Kane Hemmings - hasnt started as well as we hoped, but not his fault, should get better 6/10
• Jordan McGhee - best signing so far, very impressive considering he is playing beside a donkey 7/10

Did mine in order, 4 good, 3 reasonable and 6 flops in my opinion. Purely based on the performances that Ive seen this season. 

[Derry Alli]

Two of the four best midfielders in the Championship rated below 5/10.

Jeepers and indeed, jinkies. 

[Ludo*1]

4 hours ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Really? Not sure what reviews you got. On the contrary I think most Queens fans, 19QOS19 apart, rated Marsh highly. We wanted to keep him. He did very well for us. The disappointment of his departure though was outweighed by Kevin Holt's return so our fans werent that gutted he went but I think it would be wrong to suggest we didnt rate him.

Holt is better, bigger and more of a threat in the opposition box though. And he is one of our own, a Queens fan all his life. 

See that's what I mean. Holt was considered absolutely awful by a large section of the Dundee support. To his credit, there were an equal amount that had his back saying he wasn't that bad.

For me, and I suspect most Dee's would agree with this: Marshall is the more composed LB, he has a better cross, he's faster and he's less like bambi on ice all round.

[oneteaminglasgow]

Kenny Miller - our only capable striker, he misses some amount of chances but we’d be far worse off without him 6.5/10

 

Alex Jones - looked a total diddy then got injured for months. Scored at the weekend and undoubtedly works hard, so might not be a complete no-hoper 4/10

 

Tommy Robson - the fact that he’s gainfully employed as a professional footballer is genuinely staggering. Quite why Falkirk fans like this guy is a complete mystery, he would have looked shite even in that mob 0/10

 

Ryan Williamson - just a bit shite at most aspects of the game. 2/10

 

Reece Cole - our best player by an absolute mile. Desperately hoping we can keep him for the rest of the season, everything we do that’s good comes through him. 10/10

 

Dario Zanatta - a mixed bag. Outstanding debut, then pretty crap for months and seems to have picked up a bit again now. Could be a very important player for us. 5/10

 

Ben Hall - not sure why we signed him, he’s barely played and looked pretty ropey when he has 3/10

 

Scott Fox - solid if unspectacular keeper. Cost us the game at Morton but has been fine other than that and made a few excellent saves along the way. 6.5/10

 

Lewis Mansell - an absolute enigma. Every so often he’ll do something great and you’ll think there’s hope, and then he’ll spend the next 20 minutes looking like he’s never seen a football. Seems to have been frozen out a bit under McCall and I would seriously hope that better are coming in in January 3/10

 

Osman Kakay - keeps Ryan Williamson out the team quite often and looks decent, which is good enough for me. 7/10

 

Cammy Palmer - very raw. Could be a useful player in time, and he’s had some pretty decent performances for us but he’s not there yet. 5/10

 

Rafa De Vita - a complete mans down other than the few occasions he’s scored, and even in those games he was shite other than that. 1/10

 

Shea Gordon - a passenger who scores a fair amount of goals, but we also look inexplicably worse without him. Probably being overly generous as I haven’t actually seen him play in a while 5/10

 

Mitch Austin - yet to play N/A

 

 

 

 

 

[palmy_cammy]

Robby McCrorie - The best goalkeeper we've had since Zander Clark and huge upgrade on the various diddies we suffered with last season 8/10

Kevin Holt - Started slowly but is now back to something like the player we expected, just don't ask him to play centre half.  An attacking threat both in his rampaging runs and also height in the box at set plays 8/10

Lee Kilday - Kilday is a decent CB for this level.  He reads it pretty well which makes up for his lack of pace.  The biggest compliment I can pay him is how badly he was missed when he was out injured. 6/10

Dan Pybus - I'm not sure if we track the distance travelled by our players during games or not but I would expect Pybus will be streets ahead of everyone if we do.  Aside from energy and enthusiasm though I'm just not sure what it is he does.  He's not a great tackler or a goal threat 5/10

Lewis Kidd - Just absolutely bloody awful.  Signing anyone from last seasons Falkirk team would have been laughable.  Signing one of the worst players and making him your first choice starting midfielder is disgraceful.  He hasn't made a single positive contribution this season looking terrified any time the ball comes near him.  He can't pass, tackle or header the ball and takes about four touches to get the ball under control 1/10

Jack Hamilton - Looked to be forming a good partnership with Dobbie before picking up an injury.  He is very raw and rough around the edges but his attitude looks good and I expect he will make a decent career for himself.  Unless we get him back next season though it is unlikely we'll see too much benefit of this 6/10

Gary Oliver - Pretty much turned out as expected.  A very meh player more interested in winning fouls and falling out with opposition players than contributing anything positive to the team 4/10

Andy McCarthy - Put in a really positive substitutes appearance against Ayr then followed it up with once of the most gutless and pathetic performances I've ever seen against Queens Park.  Increasingly looks like he was just signed to make up the numbers 1/10

Darren Lyon - The closest we've got to replacing Kyle Jacobs in that he tries his hardest and will happily play in a number of positions, but is fairly limited in all of them.  5/10

Abdul Osman - I've not seen a lot of him but he looks like our best bet as a "destroyer" in the middle of the park with his physical presence and calmness on the ball.  Keeping him interested and fit seem the biggest challenges 5/10

Callum Semple - Clearly battling some off the field issues he has been thrown under the bus by Johnston a couple of times who has played him when clearly not ready.  Hopefully he can sort himself out, but just now he is of no use to us whatsoever 0/10

Faissal El Bakhtaoui - His showboating performance against Dundee Utd has probably been the highlight of the season but as expected getting any sort of consistency out of him has been a real issue.  His finishing is woeful and he is pretty lightweight.  When he is in confident mood and willing to run at players he is very exciting to watch but it just hasn't happened enough 6/10

Michael Paton - Another ridiculous signing.  He's never had any heart and now he hasn't got the legs either.  You can see from some of his touches he still has ability but without the aforementioned attributes he is just a waste of a jersey.  Playing at a good 2 or 3 levels above were he should be now 0/10

[jagfox]

Gary’s Galacticos

Scott Fox - definitely improved since going to Ross County. I feel he’s our best option at the position but still prone to lapses 7/10

Ryan Williamson - Seems a nice lad and has improved defensively of late. However due to a Bambiesque start he gets a 5/10

Tommy Robson - Falkirk’s starvplayer last season 4/10

Ben Hall - short term signing with little first team action. Not awful but prone to mistakes. Interesting to see if offered anything by McCall. I’d doubt it personally 3/10

Osman Kakay - signed as right back, now more effective further forward. Could improve on delivery and shooting but that may come when more settled. Good guy 7/10

Cammy Palmer - young lad on loan from Ibrox. Definitely a player there, just needs to fill out a bit physically. Some games have passed him by but try’s to stick to the task at hand 6/10

Reece Cole - looks like a baller under McCall 7/10 

Shea Gordon - scores goals, that’s it. Now injured 6/10

RDV  - meh despite a nice cou0le of goals 4/10

Dario Zanatta - good debut shite for weeks. Couple of decent sub appearances last couple of weeks 5/10

Mitch Austin - 0/10

Lewis Mansell - signed on full time contract in summer. Brief cameo vs Dundee away gets him a 1/10. Probably be loaned out to some lower league shite like Clyde

Kenny Miller - marquee signing, on a hefty wage. Seems to rattle a lot of Jags fans by his very existence. Personally I think he’s done well even if he’s a moany faced bastirt and points a lot. Legs maybe not there for playing a #9 role but works his arse off and I’d like to keep him until the end of the season. 8/10

Alex Jones - anonymous at first. Started showing signs of potential then got injured. Since coming back he has done pretty well and his goal last week will boost his confidence. 6/10

 

Edited December 19, 2019 by jagfox99

[Derry Alli]

I don't think anyone would agree that Marshall is faster than Holt, tbh. 

[Granny Danger]

Liam Smith:  8/10

Mark Reynolds:  8/10

Adrian Sporle:  ?

Lawrence Shankland:  12/10

 

[D.A.F.C]

Class: Kevin Nisbet, Ryan Dow.
Decent: Aaron Comrie, Greg Kiltie, Paul Paton
Average: Kyle Turner, Harry Cochrane, Josh Edwards
Sub-standard: Josh Coley, Gabby McGill
Cant judge: Euan Murray, Anthony Macdonald

Pretty much this. When we signed up martin i wasnt sure but hes been our best player at times.
Pleased for him as he went through a couple of years of injury issues.

[AsimButtHitsASix]

 

Sam Ramsbottom  - Actually feel a bit sorry for Ramsbottom. I got the impression he was brought in as a young, cheap back up option who would hopefully develop into a proper footballer after a year of reserve football and full time coaching and, if he had remained as such, would have been worth the gamble. However he got flung in the first team and is shite. Worst keeper we've ever had. - 2/10

Stephen Welsh (on loan from Celtic) - We actually put our only right back on loan on brought in a centre back to play right back. He's gubbins going forward and often looks lost defending. Looked decent when he played as part of a back three the other week but that was a one off. - 3/10

Brian McLean - I've seen CalMac ferries turn faster than this past it clown. He did make a glorious tackle against Hemmings to preserve our 1-0 win against Dundee tho' so he gets an extra point for that. - 3/10

Peter Grant - Every time I start thinking "Yeah. There's a player in there." he does something stupid. Doesn't lead the defence either. Still our only real, permanent option at centre back tho. - 5/10

Kyle Jacobs - I don't exactly know what he does. He occasionally does nothing at right back but usually spends most of his time doing nothing in midfield. Constantly loses runners from midfield and shoots like Marco Maisano - 5/10

Robbie Muirhead- I can't remember what game it was he started recently but he looked like he wasn't a total waste of money at points. He is tho. Hardly appeared and been useless when he has - 3/10

Aidan Nesbitt - Was great at the start of the season then got an injury and looked useless. I know folk were clamouring for him to return to the team but, for instance, against Partick away he was worse than a man down. But he IS a good player and has started looking like it again. - 6/10

 Kalvin Orsi - Has had injuries but wouldn't be playing even if he was fully fit. Cheap backup at best - 2/10

Cameron Salkeld  - His first touch is so shite it actually led to Partick's winner at Firhill when any other professional footballer would have started a counter attack. Can't really head the ball, or control it, or pass it, or shoot BUT does look quite dangerous running at players and is handful running about like a headless chicken at times. It's almost like he's a 400 metre runner giving football a go. - 4/10

 

Cameron Blues - I not only don't understand what he's doing when he's on the pitch I don't think he understands what he's supposed to do either unless he's been specifically told to avoid receiving the ball and to ensure he doesn't tackle anyone - 2/10

Nicky Cadden - Too good for this division. Shame he's been injured - 8/10

Danny Rogers (on loan from Aberdeen) - I was really happy when we signed him as he looked like a keeper at other clubs. Was shite to start with us but is improving - 6/10

John Sutton - Useful impact sub but a sad indictment of the current squad that him being dragged out of retirement and coming off the bench is often the only way we look like scoring - 6/10

Adam Livingstone (on loan from Motherwell) - Has played so few times I aint seen him yet. 3/10?

Luca Colville  - Looked good on his debut when we came back from 2-0 down but has disappeared since then until recently. 4/10

Jack Baird (on loan from St Mirren) - I looked forward to his name being on the team sheet when he was at the Midden as he seemed a liability. He's actually a decent defender and head and shoulders above the rest of the dross we have - 7/10

Billy King - The last thing we needed was another winger but, once his fitness improved, has looked like a decent signing at times. Three attacking players in Nesbitt, Cadden and King behind a striker might be enough to drag us out of this mess despite the shite defence and midfield. He'll probably leave in January tho. 6/10
Henk van Schaik - the single worse signing I can remember. Threw away a lead v QotS on his debut. Cost us four goals v Ayr on his only start. Then released. We paid money for him. 0/10

[Smokie joe 🐟🇱🇻]

Gaston 7/10
Miko 10/10
Campbell 4/10
Stirling 6.5/10
Wilson ??
Stewart 9/10
Murphy 5/10

[ShaggysBeard]

8 hours ago, Rob1885 said:

Class: Kevin Nisbet, Ryan Dow.
Decent: Aaron Comrie, Greg Kiltie, Paul Paton
Average: Kyle Turner, Harry Cochrane, Josh Edwards
Sub-standard: Josh Coley, Gabby McGill
Cant judge: Euan Murray, Anthony Macdonald

I've only a few amendments.

Class: Kevin Nisbet, Ryan Dow.
Decent: Aaron Comrie, Greg Kiltie, Josh Edwards, Kyle Turner
Average: Gabby McGill, Paul Paton, Harry Cochrane
Cant judge: Euan Murray, Anthony Macdonald, Tom Lang

Josh Coley is his only dud, been very poor. Maybe he's better suited to the English game but I'd be happy to send him back to Norwich now.