Queens v Airdrie

[QosLoyal]

Thistle fans said dont use Mckenna at RB he is better at CB. Finding this out every passing game.

[Broony88]

6 hours ago, 19QOS19 said:

7 hours ago, queenslad said:

Was the wall set correct for the free kick that resulted in the goal? Also as bad as the palm out by Currie was a bit disappointed no Queens player reacted either to the spill

I'd like to see the foul again tbh. He was probably fouled but it did look like he scuffed the ground trying to take the shot.

Wilson had a tiny tug of the shirt but I don’t think it was a foul as it didn’t stop Frizzell advancing. He let go and Frizzell ran another 3/4 yards got a shot away which was blocked for a corner. Thought that was maybe advantage enough but can’t complain about the referee today he was one of the better ones I have seen and gave us a couple of good advantages too. 

[Otis Blue]

First home league game for ages for me yesterday.  Firstly, hats off to the players of both sides - they put in a shift in that heat, couldn't have been easy and saw a few were on their knees at the end.

That was the proverbial game of two halves.  Airdrie worth their half-time lead and Queens were poor and clearly suffering from a poor shape and good pressing from a decent Airdrie side.  That said, for all we were poor creatively in the 1st, we did have some chances and weren't completely out of it.  Thought Currie was by no means a disaster, but knowing he couldn't hold the strike should have palmed it out wide to relative safety (aren't all keepers coached that way?).  Clearly the 1st half shape wasn't working and Wilson and Cochrane were swamped with our full backs looking dodgy.  Hooking Cochrane (he was on a yellow anyway) before half time and replacing him with the much more combative Todd was the right call.  Reilly did well up front doing his best to hold the ball up against bigger defenders, worked his socks off as always.

Second half was much better with the shape adjustment and the introduction of Kieran McKechnie was a breath of fresh air and lifted the mood of the team and fans - with his pace and directness there's a cracking wee player in there for sure.  Reilly took his goal well, can only assume that he was hooked as a precaution whilst he builds up his game fitness.  His replacement Ruth looked OK and certainly had a couple of chances to get on the score sheet.

Over the two halves it could be argued that a draw was a fair result in tough conditions.  However, I thought in the 2nd half Queens were fairly consistently bossing things and carried a decent threat.  So for me, I thought that Queens 2nd half was better than Airdrie's 1st half and so I thought overall Queens just about shaded the contest ... but its goals that count and a draw against a high flying Airdrie side who had battered Falkirk the previous week wasn't a disaster.  Queens clearly a work-in-progress at the moment and not yet the finished article for this season.  Playing a back four with new signing Hendrie in it and with Todd, Wilson, Reilly fully fit and with Connelly available again and young McKechnie causing problems for defences ... then I think Queens will carry a threat in this league and hopefully enough to reach the play-off places.

[Glenmavis Diamond]

A decent read on this thread. Trust me, when you guys play Falkirk it'll be a car crash before the first page is out. Be ready for them bringing a million fans with them... 

Anyway, onto the game. Probably the worst I've seen Airdrie play this season and I've only missed the Arbroath game, so can't say how that would compare. It's not that we played badly, but just not with the same intensity and pressure that we've seen in the other league games so far. The heat absolutely played its part today in several ways.

1. Yeah the pitch was watered before the game but it'd have dried out in about 10 minutes. Clearly impacted both teams as the game went on with the ball getting stuck under players feet. 

2. Our usually high work rate was never sustainable for 90 mins in that heat. That's what's made us so good IMO, but yesterday it was impossible to expect that of the players. I was knackered just sitting watching in the heat and I was in the shade of the stand! (why some fans were shouting at players to work harder is beyond me FFS) 

3. Squad depth. It finally caught up with us yesterday. Queens made some very decent subs to change the game in the 2nd half, which swung the game in their favour. We have players running out of stream and the energy your subs brought made all the difference. 

Overall, happy to leave with a point. 4 points so far from 2 games in a run of 4 tricky games. I'll take that. 

[Otis Blue]

13 minutes ago, Glenmavis Diamond said:

A decent read on this thread. Trust me, when you guys play Falkirk it'll be a car crash before the first page is out. Be ready for them bringing a million fans with them... 

Anyway, onto the game. Probably the worst I've seen Airdrie play this season and I've only missed the Arbroath game, so can't say how that would compare. It's not that we played badly, but just not with the same intensity and pressure that we've seen in the other league games so far. The heat absolutely played its part today in several ways.

1. Yeah the pitch was watered before the game but it'd have dried out in about 10 minutes. Clearly impacted both teams as the game went on with the ball getting stuck under players feet. 

2. Our usually high work rate was never sustainable for 90 mins in that heat. That's what's made us so good IMO, but yesterday it was impossible to expect that of the players. I was knackered just sitting watching in the heat and I was in the shade of the stand! (why some fans were shouting at players to work harder is beyond me FFS) 

3. Squad depth. It finally caught up with us yesterday. Queens made some very decent subs to change the game in the 2nd half, which swung the game in their favour. We have players running out of stream and the energy your subs brought made all the difference. 

Overall, happy to leave with a point. 4 points so far from 2 games in a run of 4 tricky games. I'll take that. 

Cheers, always good to hear the opposition's insights into their team's performance (the good part of P&B).  The heat was certainly hellish yesterday and I was impressed by the efforts of all of the players - like you I was knackered just sitting down in the shade.

We're well aware of the Falkirk factor from seasons past - to be fair they (and probably also the Pars) carry the burden of a level of expectation that just isn't matched at Queens (or possibly at Airdrie also).

 

[Monkey Tennis]

50 minutes ago, Otis Blue said:

First home league game for ages for me yesterday.  Firstly, hats off to the players of both sides - they put in a shift in that heat, couldn't have been easy and saw a few were on their knees at the end.

That was the proverbial game of two halves.  Airdrie worth their half-time lead and Queens were poor and clearly suffering from a poor shape and good pressing from a decent Airdrie side.  That said, for all we were poor creatively in the 1st, we did have some chances and weren't completely out of it.  Thought Currie was by no means a disaster, but knowing he couldn't hold the strike should have palmed it out wide to relative safety (aren't all keepers coached that way?).  Clearly the 1st half shape wasn't working and Wilson and Cochrane were swamped with our full backs looking dodgy.  Hooking Cochrane (he was on a yellow anyway) before half time and replacing him with the much more combative Todd was the right call.  Reilly did well up front doing his best to hold the ball up against bigger defenders, worked his socks off as always.

Second half was much better with the shape adjustment and the introduction of Kieran McKechnie was a breath of fresh air and lifted the mood of the team and fans - with his pace and directness there's a cracking wee player in there for sure.  Reilly took his goal well, can only assume that he was hooked as a precaution whilst he builds up his game fitness.  His replacement Ruth looked OK and certainly had a couple of chances to get on the score sheet.

Over the two halves it could be argued that a draw was a fair result in tough conditions.  However, I thought in the 2nd half Queens were fairly consistently bossing things and carried a decent threat.  So for me, I thought that Queens 2nd half was better than Airdrie's 1st half and so I thought overall Queens just about shaded the contest ... but its goals that count and a draw against a high flying Airdrie side who had battered Falkirk the previous week wasn't a disaster.  Queens clearly a work-in-progress at the moment and not yet the finished article for this season.  Playing a back four with new signing Hendrie in it and with Todd, Wilson, Reilly fully fit and with Connelly available again and young McKechnie causing problems for defences ... then I think Queens will carry a threat in this league and hopefully enough to reach the play-off places.

Hopefully, your boundless optimism is rewarded.  The worry is that, Connelly aside, that did look like our strongest starting line-up yesterday, even if their deployment was questionable.

On the incidents, I doubt if Currie did think the shot was too hot for him to hold and necessitated pushing to the side.  It should have been the comfortable catch into his body that he attempted.  He just made an arse of it.

On our goal, I love Reilly and was delighted to see him get off the mark for us.  "Took his goal well" is a stretch though.  Chris  Iwelumo would have buried that one.

[19QOS19]

1. Yeah the pitch was watered before the game but it'd have dried out in about 10 minutes. Clearly impacted both teams as the game went on with the ball getting stuck under players feet. 

I didn't know if it had been watered beforehand. I usually go in about 14:40 so it'll be done long before that.

No idea why it doesn't get watered at half time anymore. Especially yesterday. I don't think I'm imagining it, I'm positive there are/was sprinklers at the side of the pitch they used to water the pitch with at half time.

[19QOS19]

...that did look like our strongest starting line-up yesterday...

It wasn't far away certainly but it wouldn't be my strongest line-up. I've yet to decide what my preferred backline is the now. I'm a fan of Paul McKay but IMO WG has dropped the wrong McKay based on performances so far. Near the end of the game yesterday he headed the ball out for a corner under no pressure rather than head it back to Currie. Kind of sums up his performances so far. (And yet a guy near me was blaming Currie for it [emoji38]) I'm hoping Hendrie will be a player required to make up our best 11. Time will tell and if the defence continues to be as dodgy then it won't be long until he gets a shot. We had 5 defenders on yesterday and I think a back 4 is best for us.

McGrory is one of our best players IMO along with the mentioned Connelly. Two really big losses who would have made a difference yesterday. Reilly, Todd and Wilson are also big players for us and are yet to get up to full match fitness - fair play to Wilson getting through 90 minutes in that heat.

Yesterday was certainly the strongest starting 11 we've had all season for me, but I think we have a wee bit more to call it our best 11.

[Otis Blue]

3 minutes ago, Monkey Tennis said:

Hopefully, your boundless optimism is rewarded.  The worry is that, Connelly aside, that did look like our strongest starting line-up yesterday, even if their deployment was questionable.

On the incidents, I doubt if Currie did think the shot was too hot for him to hold and necessitated pushing to the side.  It should have been the comfortable catch into his body that he attempted.  He just made an arse of it.

On our goal, I love Reilly and was delighted to see him get off the mark for us.  "Took his goal well" is a stretch though.  Chris  Iwelumo would have buried that one.

Gotta start the season being optimistic MT - are you of the John Laurie "we're doomed ah tell ye, doomed" camp by any chance?  Were you sitting behind me yesterday?

I think Hendrie sounds like he will help our back four.  Not sure that (although they played yesterday) Todd, Wilson and Reilly are fully match fit yet and as you say Connelly coming back will be a boost.  McKechnie put in a cracking performance.  I'm sure that Gibson will realise that a back 4 works best given time (the first half set up was hopeless as we all saw).

It's easy to criticise keepers (god knows we've had some howlers) but Currie has to make an instant judgement - catch it (but he has to hold it) or shift it out wide to safety.  Yes, he made an arse of it because he chose to catch it but didn't hold it.  If he wasn't confident then he has to get it out wide, but its a split second decision.  I actually thought Currie did OK on the whole yesterday - even collected a cross which was a novelty for a Queens keeper.

Aye OK, Chris Iwelumo and all that, good line there ... good strikers need to anticipate to be in the right position to take them first, its not just about the strike.  Reilly worked his socks off yesterday and did all right for me.  My only gripe about our strikers is taking too many touches before shooting and by that time the defenders are set for an obvious block - one of Dobbie's great strengths was hitting the ball early before the defenders/keepers had a chance to get set.  Maybe we should show them videos of Dobbie scoring ...

[Monkey Tennis]

5 minutes ago, 19QOS19 said:

 

 

It wasn't far away certainly but it wouldn't be my strongest line-up. I've yet to decide what my preferred backline is the now. I'm a fan of Paul McKay but IMO WG has dropped the wrong McKay based on performances so far. Near the end of the game yesterday he headed the ball out for a corner under no pressure rather than head it back to Currie. Kind of sums up his performances so far. (And yet a guy near me was blaming Currie for it ) I'm hoping Hendrie will be a player required to make up our best 11. Time will tell and if the defence continues to be as dodgy then it won't be long until he gets a shot. We had 5 defenders on yesterday and I think a back 4 is best for us.

McGrory is one of our best players IMO along with the mentioned Connelly. Two really big losses who would have made a difference yesterday. Reilly, Todd and Wilson are also big players for us and are yet to get up to full match fitness - fair play to Wilson getting through 90 minutes in that heat.

Yesterday was certainly the strongest starting 11 we've had all season for me, but I think we have a wee bit more to call it our best 11.

 

Yes, fair enough on McGrory.

As for the defence, none of us really know what our strongest one looks like.

[Otis Blue]

4 minutes ago, Monkey Tennis said:

As for the defence, none of us really know what our strongest one looks like.

True, but I'm hoping that Hendrie will be an upgrade and that the other McKay will be an upgrade too.

[Monkey Tennis]

9 minutes ago, Otis Blue said:

Gotta start the season being optimistic MT - are you of the John Laurie "we're doomed ah tell ye, doomed" camp by any chance?  Were you sitting behind me yesterday?

I think Hendrie sounds like he will help our back four.  Not sure that (although they played yesterday) Todd, Wilson and Reilly are fully match fit yet and as you say Connelly coming back will be a boost.  McKechnie put in a cracking performance.  I'm sure that Gibson will realise that a back 4 works best given time (the first half set up was hopeless as we all saw).

It's easy to criticise keepers (god knows we've had some howlers) but Currie has to make an instant judgement - catch it (but he has to hold it) or shift it out wide to safety.  Yes, he made an arse of it because he chose to catch it but didn't hold it.  If he wasn't confident then he has to get it out wide, but its a split second decision.  I actually thought Currie did OK on the whole yesterday - even collected a cross which was a novelty for a Queens keeper.

Aye OK, Chris Iwelumo and all that, good line there ... good strikers need to anticipate to be in the right position to take them first, its not just about the strike.  Reilly worked his socks off yesterday and did all right for me.  My only gripe about our strikers is taking too many touches before shooting and by that time the defenders are set for an obvious block - one of Dobbie's great strengths was hitting the ball early before the defenders/keepers had a chance to get set.  Maybe we should show them videos of Dobbie scoring ...

Nah, I was moaning in the other stand.

I get that goalscoring isn't all about shooting, but "took his goal well" implies that you were impressed by the finish itself. 

 

Anyway, my half empty glass can no doubt co-exist with your half full one.

[Otis Blue]

2 minutes ago, Monkey Tennis said:

Anyway, my half empty glass can no doubt co-exist with your half full one.

Aye, its all about the time of the season though - I always start "glass half full" ... ask me the same question in February and it might be a different story.  

[Tory Boy]

15 hours ago, Diamonds_Are_Forever said:

Took one bite of it and it wasn’t even cooked properly can believe use even charged for a cup of tap water 

That's strange. Our group got water on a couple of occasions from the pie stall and weren't charged. 

[19QOS19]

That's strange. Our group got water on a couple of occasions from the pie stall and weren't charged. 

They maybe charged him to give him something else to complain about.

[Diamonds_Are_Forever]

8 minutes ago, 19QOS19 said:

34 minutes ago, Tory Boy said:

That's strange. Our group got water on a couple of occasions from the pie stall and weren't charged. 

They maybe charged him to give him something else to complain about.

I never personally went and asked for any water but the boy behind me at the game said he asked for it and they were charging £2 for a small cup of tap water which is an absolute joke

[Dougie Mills]

5 minutes ago, Diamonds_Are_Forever said:

I never personally went and asked for any water but the boy behind me at the game said he asked for it and they were charging £2 for a small cup of tap water which is an absolute joke

I think they were either lying or the server conned him! It’s less than that for a soft drink!

[Monkey Tennis]

6 minutes ago, Diamonds_Are_Forever said:

I never personally went and asked for any water but the boy behind me at the game said he asked for it and they were charging £2 for a small cup of tap water which is an absolute joke

He does sound like quite a joker.

[19QOS19]

I never personally went and asked for any water but the boy behind me at the game said he asked for it and they were charging £2 for a small cup of tap water which is an absolute joke

Calling bullshit on his part there. I don't even think juice is £2.

ETA. The Mrs bought two fizzy drinks and a carton yesterday and it came to £3.50. No danger they charged £2 for a wee water.

[David Fernández]

Game of two half's pretty much yesterday. Airdrie looked very good in the first half, knocking the ball about well and arguably could of been a couple goals up at half time.

Second half Queens changed their shape to a 4231 I think and suited them more. You's should seriously ditch the back 3. The boy number 18 looked very impressive when he came on and similar to Airdrie in the first half, arguably Queens could of went on and won it. Tbh, I was relieved when the full time whistle blew and I'm pretty happy with the point. Although it is early days I'd fancy QOS to get top 4 if you play like you did in the second half.

Think the game showed that we are in need for at least 2/3 signings to come in, if the game isn't going our way or we are under pressure, we don't have a lot of options to change it, whereas the opposition did.

Thought the security was a bit OTT there tbh with the steward trying to cram everyone in the one wee section at 2.30pm despite more fans coming in, was clearly inevitable that our fans couldn't fill that one section and had to sit further to the left. Made a complete fool of himself and the fans were right to laugh at him when the fans could eventually sit slightly further along.

Overall all a pretty good day out in the sunshine and enjoyed watching some ice-hocky in the 'Doonhamers club' after the game (think that's what it was called. Find it strange a fan got charged for water, I got 4 cups completely free. Spoke to Craig Watson briefly after tha game and said that was horrendous to play in, full credit to both teams for the effort they put in.