[The Queen of the South thread]

Im 99% certain it isnt him

You reckon you know who this is.

Give us a clue, because I've really not got one.

[The Queen of the South thread]

One of his sons was in my year at school and the other was in my brothers. Serious Rangers men....

Yes, I read on QOSMad that he was apparently an Ibrox season ticket holder.

Now if he was connected to the playing side, this wouldn't matter - Dobbie was a Rangers fan for Christ's sake, but at least he was Glaswegian.

Obviously, this new director's expertise and clout matter more than any allegiance, but for me, the fact that his real love is one of the OF doesn't sit easily in the boardroom.

Again, the 'Queens to the Core' members haven't exactly performed flawlessly up to now, but this guy's fondness for such an institution as Rangers does nothing to endear him.

Edit to add that I've just read that this guy's actually Glaswegian too.

Still though...

[The Queen of the South thread]

I am 99% certain the poster is our former manager making a c@nt of himself

Seriously?

Surely not.

Even he wouldn't stoop to this, would he?

[The Queen of the South thread]

Pleased with new appointment. Nice to hear an interview where the club seemed to be the focus rather than a list of the manager`s latest grievances.

Gus Interview.

Yes, nice to hear.

As he says himself, talk is cheap and will count for nothing if we struggle on the pitch.

It is really great to hear noises that aren't designed to be entirely self-serving though.

[The Queen of the South thread]

It's all pretty quiet on here really. I know there's not really a great deal to say until players start getting signed, but I'm kind of with Truthy on the effect of grouping everything club related into a single thread.

If Gus' appointment had a thread in its own right, I think it's likely that fans of other clubs would look in and post in greater numbers. Such fans are less likely to pop into a general Queens thread when passing through though, unless they're making a point of it.

There's lots of news that I've heard for the first time on this thing, as well as lots that can pass me by, if I'm relying on traditional media outlets.

I know that I don't often visit dedicated club threads for others and I'd imagine that many fans on here are the same.

Club threads make sense up to a point, but putting big stuff like managerial appointments in there, doesn't seem to me to make much sense.

[The Queen of the South thread]

If Queens can't gurrantee full time football beyond this season, maybe Gus didn't want to sign for more than that.

Probably not the case, but is possible.

I wouldn't read too much into the one year contract thing.

Is it not simply the case that contracts at our level are short now? Queens in particular are likely to avoid long ones as we're strapped and have had too many players on longer contracts until recently.

I'd imagine that a year suited both parties fine.

[The Queen of the South thread]

Gus is quoted today saying we will be training in central belt. Think Brannigan put an end to our current training facilities when he sput the dummy out

I'm a bit intrigued by this aspect of things.

As you say, KB made noises before departing about how training at Glasgow Green would cease, because the arrangement was somehow dependent on him. SD and others however mocked the notion that he could exert some sort of ongoing control over our capacity to hire a publicly owned facility.

We know now that the under 19s are switching to Carlisle and we have McPherson's references today to training in the "Central Belt".

Does anyone know what the true picture is regarding training? It is after all due to resume in about ten days time.

[The Queen of the South thread]

I did try telling everyone days ago. Got to be good for something. Craig Reid will be next to leave! Watch this space..............

Ach, just when I was feeling upbeat.

If we lose Reid, even for a better than risible fee which is unlikely; then he'll be hard to replace.

Assuming Harris moves too, we're starting from scratch for full backs and are certain to wind up with poorer ones than those.

McKenna re-signing gives us a potenital defender for occasional games between suspensions I suppose, but McPherson's going to have to go some to put in place the solid defensive unit for which he's renowned.

Maybe though, I've underestimated McKenna. Perhaps he's not just the ill-disciplined reckless sod he's appeared. It seems that he's a dishonourable sod too.

[The Queen of the South thread]

Now official.

Great stuff!

Now to get some players.

[The Queen of the South thread]

I actually like him as a player, at centre half and in midfield. Obviously I would like it if he got booked less, but you can't have everything.

I thought he was ok during his first season here, but I was never as taken with him as lots seemed to be.

Last season was pretty lousy though. He went from being an effective disruptive player to a downright dirty one.

The fact that he'll barely be able to play a league match next season (for whoever) until September, says it all.

I'm not desperate to see the back of him, but I really wouldn't mourn his departure at all.

[The Queen of the South thread]

I would imagine he will be a fan of McKenna, unlucky!

Yeah, that's a shame.

I'll live with it though.

[The Queen of the South thread]

I don't know if you remember our team when we won the league or not but it wasn't the top scoring side in the league that season. I think it had the best defensive record though. We weren't THAT bad in the first division but the lack of goals became a bit of a running sore with the punters. I have no idea what his teams would have been like if we had remained in the first division a while, SPL survival football is a different beast altogether.

Put it this way, Queens will be one of the best organised and disciplined teams in the league if not THE best. The defence will be made pretty sound. The midfield will be a shitfest. And you will have a couple of functioning strikers.

I think part of the problem was that he was with us for so long that there was no surprises anymore. We all knew what we were getting and it became a bit stale, and the football was dull as f**k. He will basically have you playing like Hamilton Accies but he will play two up front and not one like Reid does.

Thanks for that.

I do remember the St Mirren team that went up and while I saw a lot less of them than you did, I too remember them as a solid outfit, who were more impressive than some of the dearer squads around the division.

After this past season, the idea of a disciplined, sound defence suddenly sounds quite tantalising.

Obviously though, a turgid midfield doesn't excite, and he might do well to find a couple of functioning strikers.

All in all though, I'm pretty optimistic and most supporters seem to feel the same way.

It's a bit of a turnaround because loads of Queens fans (I wasn't one of them) thought the world of Brannigan. The board were getting a lot of criticism and yet this appointment (if confirmed) seems virtually universally popular.

I hope the upturn in mood proves justified.

[The Queen of the South thread]

Like me they were pissed off with the football we were watching but you can't really argue that he achieved a lot for us.

Some of their punters might not like the football they are watching

That's a couple of references now to the unattractive football McPherson's St. Mirren played.

Were they that bad in that sense?

In recent years, Queens have, in my view, been pretty attractive to watch; but the same certainly can't be said of much of the season just gone.

We reverted to some ugly long ball stuff that was as fruitless as it was dull. I can't believe McPherson will have us looking worse, but I'm interested to hear how he likes to set his teams up.

[The Queen of the South thread]

As of last Saturday, McKenna was on holiday but I spoke to Alan Moore at our new strip launch and he said it was a done deal. McKenna was due back this week but Moore has been in Sweden looking at players over there and returned either yesterday or today so it is perfectly possible that they have still to meet to get the paperwork done. That being the case, I guess there is scope for the boy to change his mind but it would be disappointing if he did!

I agree that it would be terribly disappointing.

He's not very good and I'd be quite happy to see him at Morton, rather than us.

Great news on Gus though. Just keen to see it confirmed now.

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Ohh , it's true alright . Gus was spotted in Greggs the Bakers ( Dumfries Branch ) earlier today with A.N.Other

I'd have more faith if we still had a Wimpy.

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I think we are still in the realms of rumour at the moment.

Yes, I'm having doubts. Nothing on the OS and actually quite quiet on QOSMad, where Blazerman describes it as merely a rumour.

I hope it's true, so it probably isn't.

[The Queen of the South thread]

Well, if true (and I'd like to see a little more evidence either way), I'm pleased about it.

At last, somebody with a pedigree of sorts at this level, rather than some bloke who happened to be handy.

Whoever gets appointed will obviously have lots to do very quickly; but I'll feel reasonably confident about things if it's McPherson.

[The Queen of the South thread]

I`ll be surprised if he doesn`t at least make the squad at some stage next season.

I'll be surprised if he does.

Levein had clearly been asked about Dobbie and was at pains to explain why he wasn't suitable.

You've got to remember that Levein's a dick.

[The Queen of the South thread]

I don't think Dobbie would be too shit hot at Scotland, keeping in mind that a Scottish striker will often be up top by his own and will have to put in a ton of workate would he really fit in? good player but wouldn't fit into any system I've seen Scotland play.

Sadly, Levein is quoted in the Sunday Herald today as seeing things exactly in the way you indicate.

He says that Scoland would need to change the way they play to 4-4-1-1 in order to accommodate Dobbie. It's clear that he has no intention of having this happen.

Depressing reading for Dobbie I'd imagine, as well as for anyone else who thinks it would be nice to see a technically capable player getiing a game.

[The Queen of the South thread]

I don't think Dobbie would be too shit hot at Scotland, keeping in mind that a Scottish striker will often be up top by his own and will have to put in a ton of workate would he really fit in? good player but wouldn't fit into any system I've seen Scotland play.

Much as I like Dobbie and would love to see him get a chance at International level, I suspect you're maybe right.

Dobbie's sort of the anti-Kenny Miller. He can't do what Miller does, but fortunately can do the many things Miller can't.

In Scotland terms, it is hard to see where he'd fit, given the way Scotland seem determined to play these days.

[The Queen of the South thread]

I don't think so, he's too light weight. A bit like Wullie Gibson, a good second level player but not good enough for the SPL. He will spend most of your one season in the top league sitting on the bench.

Come on Truthy.

Give us an example of a time when you've seen Burns suffer as a result of his slight physique.

Yes, he'll be lighter than the average footballer, but he's not "lightweight" at all in terms of how he plays, or the contribution he makes.

[The Queen of the South thread]

Interesting to note that Chisholm's brief attempts to play Dobbie as a creative striker in the "hole" just behind forwards were greeted with derision at the time but that is the position his career has been reinvented in at Swansea.

Interesting yes, but in some respects not that surprising. We know he has the touch, vision and brains to play in that creative role and with quick, clinical guys in front of him, it should work.

At our level though, he was far too exceptional a finisher in his own right to justify playing him deeper. Nobody put ahead of him would be half as good as he was. It would therefore be wasteful to play him anywhere other than the part of the field that would enable him to do most direct damage.

[The Queen of the South thread]

I consider it an absolute privilege to have seen him play for my club for two and a half years. Most of it pure genius. His form in his final six months with us was simply unbelievable. I believed then he would be an international player if he applied himself like that consistently and I still do. A player as naturallly talented as Dobs should never have been playing outside the top division in the first place.

Yes, by an absolute mile, the best Queens player I've ever seen. Latterly, it was great going into games against anyone in the division, knowing that you had easily the best player on the park.

It is fair to say that he didn't play brilliantly for us at all times, but (if it's not too much of a contradiction) his quality was always

evident.

We were bloody lucky to have him. For a team like Queen of the South to ever leave someone that talented out was ridiculous - wilful contrariness on Chisholm's part which is hard to forgive.

[The Queen of the South thread]

Should have been sacked during the 12 game run, safe to say I wasn't a fan.

He saw fit to drop Dobbie for the European games and at one or two other points in his tenure.

That alone proves that he shouldn't be trusted with the job of picking a football team.

[The Queen of the South thread]

Queens fans, we are interested in signing David Lilley. From what I've seen on here he had a good season the season before last but last season had injury problems and, was quite poor. However some said he'd still be able to play at 1st div level so would he be a stand out at 2nd div or would he just be a good signing?

Thanks.

Others will disagree with me and point to his injury problems last year, or claim he was unfairly exposed in a back three.

On the evidence of the season just ended however, I'd say he's past it, I'm afraid.

Whether dropping a division will help, I don't know.