MacWatt

I saw a real footballing brain and an ability to read the game and see a pass coupled with good skills and energy. I am glad he has started so promisingly. I have to eat my words about young McShane however. He has been a real stand out in the last couple of games and am delighted to see him doing well

Forget Johnston and Clark. They are not covering themsleves in glory in the SPL in fact their management looks wanting. McIntyre made a good start. The team he set up created enough chances to win the game today. The players have to look to themselves about the missed chances. I like Durnan but that attitude needs sorting.

He has had a 10 game ban? which draconian rules are they FTP?

Dartmouth's coach on the loss of Kevin D... “I think he wanted to just go and train and get his name out there a bit, but the team just really fell in love with him and he felt it was the right opportunity. It’s obviously a big loss, but any time someone’s dream comes true, you’re happy about that.”

I actually haven't seen your first post but welcome. You have a grasp of history of Queen of the South that most posters on here can only dream of!

Hmmm . A decent but a bit rambling post QP? thanks for reminding me of a few 'legends' Throw in Peter Dickson (Scotland under 20) and Tommy O'Hara who were fitter than Dobbie and scored goals and you open the argument up.

No. but the thing is I don't rate anyone better that him in the last 10 years. There is an argument that Lee Robinson was a 'better' player in terms of his contribution to the team/results. I think he was a remarkable game winner! Dobbie was clearly an enigma. A puzzling genius who showed glimpses of what he was capable of but only now and then decided when he was willing to show it. The last few games of a Queens season when he scored 10 in 10. Or on his Championship play off/Final Stage ? Apart from these heights he has been ordinary

I have been his flag bearer and I hope he doesn't disappoint, Intelligence and leadership and fitness could be the key! Fitness is an issue after his trans Atlantic journeys.. Although he is natural athlete. He once entered a 5K field of 320 male/female runners when he was 12 and finished 22nd!

Dobbie is without doubt one of the best players in our very recent memory. The trouble is recent memory is more vivid and unreliable when we try to apply that memory to all players who have ever played for Queens. I don't even think he is the best in 'that era' . To put it blunt a lot of the time he was unfit, lazy and pre-occupied with matters outwith football. Not one of Queens greats!

Depends on what parameters you use to judge 'best player' as well as the timescale over which you judge him against others. In terms of all time best player then Dobbie would not feature in the top 10 or even the top 20. I would put McMinn and Robertson ahead of him as examples of 'modern era' players.. There are many others who made a greater contribution to the team, scored more goals, were more skillful, gained international honours or played at a higher level. He may be one of the best within the last 10 or 20 years but that is the extent of it. Ex players tend to take on an aura once they have gone that was just not there when they played for the club. Dobbie could certainly turn it on when he set his mind to the task. He was one of the best penalty box finishers who could create half a yard of space and hit the ball low and early which invariably caught keepers out. His overall contribution to the team was less certain however, and he would go long spells in a season where he looked as if he was less interested and for 8 or 9 games (2 months or more) wouldn't appear on the score sheet. This was recognised by more than one manager who didn't always feature him as a first pick. Having said all of that he made a significant contribution to the team scoring 20 goals plus, three seasons running, and providing a lot of entertainment along the way.

Does that include George Cloy?

Jim's dad IMO. Look! He is 18. He 5 foot something and he has not bulked up. There is no chance that Atkinson would get in to the first team.

AJ was part of a remarkable season with us last season. Most of us thought that he had yet to prove himself and would benefit from taking the same team through the First Division before he stepped up. A chance to prove himself. It looks like he has stepped up and not quite made it. Releasing Heffernan is interesting and bringing in the Dundee United reject is a risk. Good luck AJ.

Queen of the South now debt free!

Queen of the South now debt free!

Great idea. It will be down to the Police but I would think that a small number (500) would be able to stand safely on the Terregles Street End as long as the barriers are sound and they are kept away from the back railing which I used to stand against and sit on when I was 12!

Not true. You should carry out some research before coming out with such obviously wrong dogmatic statements. 6/7/8 of the players that started at Palmerston have started the league games for Hearts with most of the others coming on as subs during the game I prefer to deal in empirical observations rather than blind assumptions. My point was, before it gets lost, was that Kevin was playing against a decent SPL team and not just a bunch of kids as you are (wrongly) suggesting in order to support your argument.

Young boys who are, on form, the second best team in Scotland. Have you ever judged a player from what you have seen on the telly? In this case we have a bit more to go on. That's that imagination of yours at it again. Is this the first colour co-ordinated post on P&B?

What hype? I think you have imagined something that just isn't there. Apart from no more than handfull of posters on here who are generally speaking positively about his debut particularly when we have had a player playing out of position in the role that Kevin would fill. Rather than judging the player on what league he has been playing in you could make a judgement on what you have seen of his undoubted footballing abilities either at Palmerston or on video.

What we do know is that he displayed composure, a very good range of passing skills with both feet and a hunger for the ball in his outing against Hearts. (A Hearts team that would be sitting joint second place if it were not for their starting points deficit) These abilities (which are beyond most players in the Division) were also on show in abundance in youtube clips . We know that he was the Captain, playmaker and best player in a good college side and that someone who knows him considers him to be a very gifted player and one of the select few invited to the MLS combine. Oh, and the kid has great soccer smarts!

I don't believe that Kevin has been brought across the Atlantic to sit on the bench. He was a stand out in the game against Hearts and I expect him to go straight into the team.

I see my first post passing on comment on Kevin D. from US Soccer Forum disappeared in the crash! Here is another comment from the US Soccer Forum... 'I heard he was not coming back to Dartmouth. Dzierzawski is a very gifted player! He was up for the MLS combine last year but did not pursue because he decided to return for his senior year and certainly would have been a high MLS pick this year but it looks like he choose to pursue the European route. He trained with the LA Galaxy as a sophomore and I know has spent some time in Scotland training with St. Johnstone a few summers back. The kid is a great play maker, great soccer smarts and can be very physical. Queens will like his play.' Major League Soccer Player Combine is an annual showcase in which upcoming prospects are evaluated.

Great news. For me American footballers bring something different in the form of athleticism coupled with intelligence. His showing in his trial game was very impressive. I have high hopes of Kevin Dzierzawski. I think it is pronounced jee-er-zoffski!

In fact he played well today. He gathered in a few hard shots in text book fashion. He caught a couple of high balls competently. I had been bothered a bit about his bravery on the ground but he came out and gathered a ball at the feet of an advancing forward in the first half. His stop against a fierce McNulty shot in the second half was top class.

I would stick to the naked insults. Humour just isn't your bag.