palmy_cammy

I don’t think the first team training away from Dumfries is a factor in the terrible home form for the reasons stated. Most teams train at an alternative training ground rather than their home stadium anyway. The only real difference being Queens don’t own their training ground and it is outside their home town. That being said, fans lap up performative actions and a “rallying call” from the manager saying he was determined to fix the appalling home form and had organised extra sessions at Palmerston to remedy it would likely be well received even if it had no basis on fact. Sadly Bartley seems to have no interest in appeasing people, and instead prefers to antagonise and alienate. He also probably thinks there is nothing wrong with the home form anyway. Moving forward I think moving training back to Dumfries would be a quick win for the new Board at trying to repair the disconnect between fans and club. Unless I’m missing anything obvious, the main argument for training in the central belt was to attract a better standard of player. A quick glance at the squads from the past few years would show a glaring weakness in that argument. I thought the longer term vision when KGV was acquired was to turn it onto a doonhame version of La Masia?

Typical Queens vs Falkirk thread with everyone posting a load of crop.

How I imagine the board meetings unfold at Palmerston. Absolutely astounding and contemptible that they are sitting on their hands and doing nothing about the current state the club is in. Very clear they stopped giving a shit a long time ago. The fans deserve so much better.

That announcement is as good as a lottery win for Queens fans, don’t get greedy.

An excellent clean sheet.

What about “Cowp Nou” considering the state of the place?

Number 9 might be worth a look, he stuck the penalty away well.

Or a third option, which is that they have no plan at all.

I’d settle for 1-0 Alloa. Take the point and move on.

Like everyone else I was delighted yesterday proved to be such a success, with Dobbie getting the turnout he deserved from both players and fans alike. As others have said the football at these type of affairs tends to be of little importance, but I think the choice of opposition meant there was interest in both sides for the supporters which may not have been the case if the opponents had been for example a "Rangers XI". Based on the reaction in the ground Scott Brown was obviously the star attraction in the away side, and judging by Dobbie's interview was a key player in getting other people involved, but it was also great to see 58 year old Colin Hendry strutting his stuff and putting many of the younger players to shame with his fitness! While it was nice to see so many ex-Queens players again, it only served as a reminder of how far the club has fallen, and how lacking in character and leadership it has been for quite some time. Guys like Chris Higgins, who haven't even been away from the club all that long, feel like a different breed to the recent crop of charlatans. Fair play to Alan Martin for playing, he wasn't exactly well loved during his spell with the club but got a good reception from the Portland Drive end. I actually thought he looked in better physical condition than at any point during his playing career with Queens. He also contributed to the occasion and gave the crowd some rare reasons to get excited by pulling off a couple of great saves, and skinning two of the Scotland team. I wasn't going to comment on the stadium announcer as it was a light-hearted testimonial match and not that important in any sort of real life context. But as others have brought it up I don't feel as petty in doing so. It is just another thing to add to the ever increasing list of things that show the club up as utterly tinpot. A professional football club in name only.

Yeah I don't think it's likely to happen for the reasons you give. It would be a massive dent to Bartley's considerable ego so more likely to cause more issues than it would resolve. It was just a left-field suggestion that would avoid the club having to fork out on a costly sacking, and perhaps help salvage Bartley's reputation and career, which is now in the gutter. Someone earlier tried to equate football management to a normal workplace, which is probably folly, but in most jobs if someone is struggling with their workload the answer is to offer assistance not immediately dispose of the person.

Obviously longer term the club needs cleared out and rebuilt from top to bottom, but would a short-term fix be to appoint a “wise old head” to assist Bartley, fill in the obvious gaps in his skillset, and mend the rifts in the camp? Of course the clear weakness in this plan is a list of obvious candidates, and the fact the damage is possibly already done now. Maybe this was an idea for a month or so back. It’s a shame that for probably the first time in their tenure the board have made an ambitious appointment, that actually pointed to a bit of forward thinking and longer-term planning, and it’s proven to be a disaster. Lots of people still seem to think Bartley has something about him. If the situation could be saved it would be better for everyone, than going back to the endless, depressing cycle of ripping it up and starting again every year.

The greatest full back in the history of the game being torn a new one by “Anthony Gordon”.

I think a team will take a punt on Bartley far earlier than they would on a Queens manager in League 1 in normal circumstances. He has already built up a reputation as a promising up and coming manager through his media work, where he stands out as an ex-player who can string a couple of sentences together. It will be this as much as anything that will prompt a team to take a chance, with what he does for Queens a secondary consideration (assuming he doesn’t suddenly become a complete disaster of a manager). I’ll be very surprised if he isn’t poached before the turn of the year.

All fair points, but the swiftness they have delivered the match reports from Spurs and Brentford has to be admired.

First trip to Palmerston for me since February 2020, not a bad game to return to! It was extremely refreshing to see a Queens team who were well drilled and set up in a cohesive unit where every player knew their roles. No square pegs in round holes, and every player giving 100%. It just shows the levels of shite that have been served up in recent times when bare minimum requirements like the above are celebrated as achievements. It meant that although there were regular reminders at various stages of the game that Motherwell were considerably; bigger, fitter, more athletic and just generally better, Queens never let this get to them and kept plugging away. It certainly looked like a team who are buying into the manager's methods and working hard for the cause. Again bare minimum requirements that aren't always a given. I can't say I was overly concerned by the team playing it out from the back. The team simply doesn't have the height to be playing long, and any time Botterill tried to do this it caused far more problems than playing from the back ever did. It obviously poses risks when League 1 level players are trying to be clever, but it is a risk/reward thing and IMO the reward of keeping possession far outweigh the risks versus the slim possibility of Lee Connolly winning a header against Bevis Mugabe and the team immediately being under the cosh again. I liked the look of McClelland, he was dominant in the air and looked comfortable in possession. He does also seem like the type who will get involved with players and officials instead of focusing on the game which may lead to some issues. Reminded me a bit of Darren Brownlie. Cochrane was a calming influence in the middle of the park and his vision and creativity was a cut above anyone else for Queens until Todd came on in the second half. Connolly was busy, doing a lot of good work all over the park. I'm not sure if it was intentional for him to have such a free role, or if he is a "maverick" type. If he is the latter then I don't see him lasting long in Bartley's plans unless he can learn some positional discipline which would be a shame in a way. McKechnie was the main threat throughout and didn't deserve to miss the "losing penalty". Reilly put in an incredible shift and it was great he got the goals his efforts deserved. I'm in the fortunate position of not having seen him last season so in my eyes that was just a typical Gavin Reilly performance, but I know that hasn't been the case for a number of years now. Long may it continue. As covered the only real weakness in the starting XI was Logan at left-back. Is the intention for Church to be first choice once fit? Perhaps harsh to judge him on one game as he won't be up against recent Scotland internationalists every week but he was the glaring weakness unfortunately. Many a red-face has come from getting over excited after an early season cup tie, but plenty to be optimistic about. Last night was essentially a free hit for the team against superior opposition. The real indicators will come against the teams of similar ability where the players will need to show they can perform with the extra weight of expectation on their shoulders.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/yp8n5m/has-soccer-developed-an-unhealthy-obsession-with-grief

Connor Murray is the guy that runs rings round everyone at 5-a-sides then looks completely lost on a full size pitch.

Obviously the situation can change once the squad is complete but it is currently looking like a very young squad that Bartley is assembling. He strikes me as a very confident man who backs himself and his coaching abilities, so a strategy of signing young players on 2 year deals is appealing as he will expect to improve these players which will then lead to the team being successful and/or the players moving on and bringing in transfer fees. It's a high risk strategy because it relies on Bartley being as good a coach as he thinks he is, having a keen eye for a player, and the players themselves actually being capable of improving. It's a big ask for someone in their first managerial job, but he definitely talks the talk so I can see why the board have been seduced into backing him. None of the above is really meant as a criticism, more an observation. It is probably as good a strategy as any at this level where recruitment is so hit and miss. He did bring an improvement out of last season's squad (certainly results-wise anyway) but the bar was set so low I don't know if that can be used as concrete evidence. One thing I'd be concerned about is that Bartley is already quite a high profile/highly regarded name in the media. He will undoubtedly be linked with every job under the sun once the trigger happy Chairmen in the higher leagues start getting twitchy. If he were to leave part way through his "project" it might be tough to find a manager ready to carry on his work as most managers want their own players. This would put the club back to square one of clearing out multiple players and starting from scratch again.

They got "Doonhamers" right at least.

Monkey Tennis and Stuart Cosgrove off to watch Lyndon Dykes put in yet another supreme performance for Scotland.