Slipmat

I'm not having this's. Mod's?

Got to be the Prince-of-the-Premier Pedestrian Plodder Stephen Simmons for me.

Calm doon man! I'm no fan of the board, but you're starting to sound like you'd rather that Fermer Rae had sold his shares to that mob of asset-strippers who were a front for the serial football-club-liquidator Stephen Vaughan than have Hewitson near the club.

I'm starting to wonder what the likes of McKechnie, Quitongo, McMahon and Muir have to do to actually get into the team. None of them have looked out of place on the odd occasion that they have played but no matter how badly we play their appearances are now as rare as hens teeth. Will Ruth ever get a run of games where he can get a chance to show what he can do for more than the last 15 minutes? Does the manager simply not rate these guys? If so, why were they all amongst the first of his summer (re-)signings? What was the point in signing Irving if he's only role is to sit on the bench? I felt a bit sorry for Bange today. It was a strange decision to pair him up with Reilly given that the two of them have been on the pitch together for probably less than 10 minutes in total prior to today's game, and it showed as neither really appeared to know what the other was doing. Bange probably won't get another start before he heads back to Blackpool now.

Woeful is the only word I can muster up to describe that performance today. We may have looked better in the second half, but only when the result was a foregone conclusion, Falkirk took their foot off the gas and McGlynn decided to "rest" some of starting XI for the last half hour. The majority of fans on here have been advocating for Wullie to play, but not in central midfield ffs! The excuse will no doubt be rolled out that 2 (or 3) of our first pick CMs are out with injuries, but with a squad of 28 players surely we have better options than to start the manager playing out of position? I'm not complaining about the effort put in by Reilly and McKenna, but these two players seem to be the first two names on the teamsheet in every game and I am totally baffled as to why. Wullie tore Greenacres a new one on twitter for suggesting that he has his favourites, but it's starting to look like there may be a grain or two of truth in that as some guys just aren't getting a sniff of action, either that or he just doesn't have faith in a worryingly large number of the squad he has assembled. Falkirk were very good in the first half and 4-0 wouldn't have been an unfair half-time scoreline. Burrell gave our defence no end of problems and we just couldn't get to grips with him. Best forward I've seen this season.

Men against boys stuff, this. I'll be amazed if we register a shot on target before the game ends.

You mean we actually train ? From what I've seen over the past few seasons I'd been assuming that we were going into matches and just improvising, a bit like having a jam session, and then if something clicks we try doing it again the following week.

Now I'm not for one minute suggesting our use of personnel is predictable, but... Reilly and Paton will be our starting forwards. If Bange is to appear it will only be for the last 10 minutes after we have launched into full-on desperation mode, chasing a win/point which is well beyond our reach by that time. Ditto Lewis Gibson. McGrory may start but will be subbed off if he does, if he doesn't start he will be brought on for 20 mins/half an hour. On no account will he be allowed the full 90. Murray will be on the pitch far longer than he should be. Wullie G should feature but won't. We will go into the game with one formation but this will be changed on at least two occasions as the match progresses. We will leave the ground happy with a point even though it leaves us even more firmly anchored into a mid-table void.

Just watched Wullie's interview with Sandra where he jokes that he will likely be wearing the same outfit again next week. I would much prefer it if he was wearing a playing kit. Is it just me that's found it frustrating that in each of his last two post-match interviews the interviewers have enquired about the fitness of certain players but have dodged the elephant in the room and not asked what Wullie's injury is and if and when he plans on selecting himself again?

I take it Wullie is still "injured"?

Maybe it's just my perception, but it seems like he's developed a bit of a siege mentality of late.

This. Personally, despite my previous post illustrating that our club has form regarding board interference in team selection, I tend to believe that Wullie is maybe carrying a niggling injury given that he hasn't even named himself on the bench in the last few games, especially given our current lack of fit defenders. Unfortunately the OS injury updates which were a welcome feature of the early days of WG's tenure (ie last season) have dried up, and the management team seem to have stopped doing post match video interviews. New ones today from Dan and Toddy but sadly no comments from WG. A simple statement from WG along the lines of "I'm carrying an injury" or "it's my decision not to pick myself" would easily end speculation. ETA - Gibson interview online 5 minutes after I posted this lol! Looks like he was riding a unicycle at the time

The chairman and directors did exactly this from the 1950s to the mid 90s. Nearly every single manager through the door during that period from George Farm to Willie McLean to Frank McGarvey to Ally McLeod are on record confirming this. No reason to believe it would never happen again or that it isn't indeed happening just now.

In the not too distant past, based on league positions, we could legitimately call Queens the best part-time team in the country. So... if Kelty leapfrog us in the table would that then make us the worst full-time team in the country?

I think we'll do well to get over 800 at Saturday's game, in other words probably around the average pre-Norman Blount attendance. To be fair to the board they appear to have given WG decent funding and he has assembled a large squad - despite him making an early statement that we would be running with a first team squad of no more than 20 we currently have 28 named first team players. For some reason though he seems to be sticking by a hardcore of around 14 players and when things don't go to plan it's the formation that changes, not the faces. When personnel IS changed via substitutions, it is tiresomely predictable. As soon as the team is announced you can almost guarantee what players will be hooked and who their replacements will be. McGrory and Connelly haven't played the full 90 minutes in a single league games this season. If Cochrane starts, he will be subbed off after an hour if he even lasts that long. For some inexplicable reason Murray will be the first go-to sub if he isn't in the starting XI. Guys like Muir, McKechnie and McMahon are struggling to get a place on the bench when they are at the age where they should be getting the chance to develop by being on the pitch. It's now getting all too predictable and I'm certainly being far more picky regarding which games I choose to attend. I for one will be giving Saturday a miss.

Careful now. You're not allowed to be negative on social media. You might upset the players.

Even our substitutions are tiresomely predictable.

Not at the game but I think it's odds on that the first sub will be McGrory or Murray for Cochrane after an hour tops.

Cheers!

No updates on the BBC (national broadcaster my arse...) so all of us at-home fans are relying on your man, Homer. Not that I'm putting any pressure on him of course...

If only, if only...

That's exactly the team and formation I would like to see tomorrow. Is Paul McKay still suspended? Even if he isn't I would still hope we persevere with the above back line.

Talking of creating something from nothing, that link provides a perfect example of "standard" (please excuse the pun!) sensationalist tabloid football journalism where a non-story gets blown totally out of proportion and is then given full back page coverage, even to the extent of including cliched textbook terminology such as "slammed", "confrontation" and "battle" in the article. From what I read of the original tweet, our jolly chum from on here appeared to state that he thinks Wullie has his favourite players who are guaranteed automatic starts, and Wullie politely but firmly refuted the suggestion in his reply. No mention of any fall-out with Connelly, but the reporter must have decided that was the story he wanted to get out, pressed Wullie on the matter and he seems to have somewhat naively mentioned his conversation with Lee and his mother. Possibly a lesson in media management for Wullie then. Don't reply to social media posts from fans and keep team matters in house when journalists are fishing for stories.

We do. Connelly has started seven games, come off the bench three times and scored 5 goals.