Katboy

I too am happy with both of these signings. Mark Campbell has proved to be an imposing figure at the back. Maybe not fast but should be a perfect foil for Craig Reid who is pretty quick. Kevin Smith seem to be averaging a goal every 2.55 games. Not too bad a record & provided he can stay clear of injury he should be a good signing. Typically the "meet the management" night is scheduled to take place while I am on holiday I'd like to hear what Mr McPherson has to say but sadly won't be able to attend.

We have stewards who usually do their best to cause confrontation & police who are more content to watch the game. .

How did I forget Kris Robertson? Dreadful keeper who only made 2 trialist appearances for us (if memory serves me correctly). I remember him losing a goal directly from a corner in his 1st game & sure the same thing happened in his 2nd. Sure he's playing in junior league these days. Jim Butter was another keeper who was pretty hopeless. Jamie Campbell I just didn't think was ever cut out for the senior game.

It is fair to say that Goram's best years were behind him when he arrived at Queens. However saying he was uninterested is somewhat harsh. He had some good performances & some not so good ones with the odd flash of the keeper he had been. I can't recall him ever giving it anything lesse than his best shot. He came with a fair amount of baggage (namely his private life), but in a footballing sense we have employed plenty worse keepers down the years. Anyone remember Derrick Hoy? Or John Burridge & more recently Barry John Corr.

He made 2 or 3 howlers last year! Seems to have teflon gloves & goes down in instalments! I thought we'd signed a statue at first. An average keeper at best. whose days at this level are sadly past. Going with McKenzie as our number one does not bear thinking about.

As I said previously I'm not especially impressed with this signing. Maybe though we are allowing memories of his previous spell with us to cloud our judgement. He seemed to do ok at Raith so maybe has maybe improved as a player. I am willing to give him a chance & I think it is only right to defer judgement until the real action starts.

Simmons is one signing I would not be impressed with. Lazy and workshy. Not an especially good passer of the ball either.

So thats us at maybe 5 players now. Still it looks better than it did a week ago. I'm happy with the appointment of Gus McPherson. He has a proven track record at this level & at SPL level also. Just hope he is a fast mover in the trsnsfer market as there are still a lot of positions to be filled. I'm not terribly worried that it's only a years deal. I would imagine there will be scope on either side to review as the season progresses.

It is a complete & utter shambles. Sadly it is also a shambles that could be seen coming. From the lack of communication to the cowardly manner in which they handled Kenny Brannigans departure the board seem just seem to stumble from one disaster to the next. They now seem determined to drag out the recruitment process indefinitely (note that there has been no definite time frame given for the appointment of a new manager). Surely they know by now which of the 30 claimed applicants they would like to speak to? Interviews should really have been conducted by the end of last week. There just seems to be no forward planning in evidence at all. The consequence of all this is that the new manager is not going to be left with much time at all to get a team together. Following this the team then has to gel together. Something that can often take time. We will really have to hit the ground running. Finally, I'm glad to see Ayr back in the 1st. Looking forward to the trips up next season.

Disappointed to see Paul Burns go, although the way the last few weeks have developed there was a certain inevitability about it. Best of luck to him , he deserves a crack at a higher level & I'm sure he won't let Dunfermline down. On subject of Stephen Dobbie, best finisher I have seen at Palmerston. He's had a good end to the season, don't see him getting a Scotland call up any time soon though. He isn't really suited to playing the lone striker role which Levein seems determined to persist with.

And he also left us in the lurch when the Dee's came calling. He said he was going to a bigger, more ambituous club. He couldn't wait to be shot of us. For that reason alone he should never ever be invited back.

Not saying that there is any need to wait to 1st June. However given the protracted manner in which the board currently operate I fancy an announcement on 1st June or later.

As you say an announcement could reasonably be expected on or around 1st June. The new man has got to work fast to get a team together in time for pre season training. Not only that but we don't have a whole lot of time for the team to gel together. They really will have to hit the ground running, this doesn't always happen especially not when the bulk of the team are new. This season is going to be something of a transitional period for us.

Have you ever liked any of our managers? All joking aside though, I'd be very concerned should we appoint Chisholm or Connelly. The former because I have never at any point rated him as a manager. Fine as a coach but he is no manager. The latter simply because it is never the same 2nd time round. Too much has changed since he left us. Alan Main - well no management experience & too much of a gamble. On the plus side though he could coach the goalkeepers (two roles for price of one!) Same applies for Scally & JT, I would hate to see it all go wrong for them & the regard in which they are held by the fans diminished. I would not be altogether against John Hughes or Gus McPherson. Both have good contacts within the game but would they be willing to work with the slender resources we have? If Alan Maitland was appointed it would be a sure sign that we will be part time. He has openly said in the past he wouldn't take a full time post.

I have a feeling that the eventual appointment will be a name that no one has linked with the post.

At last some communication from Palmerston! Like you MB I am surprised that the interntion is to remain full time. Given that we will be sourcing players at the cheaper end of the market it is important that we get the right man to lead them. If as they say several candidates have put their name forward it is to be hoped that this time the board conduct a proper recrutiment process. Much will depend on the new manager & it is to be hoped that we get this apppointment right.

I keep hoping that this is all just a bad dream & I will wake up soon! In all seriousness though, I fully expect us to go down the hybrid full & part time route. Kenny Brannigan is not blameless in this situation & he was perhaps unwise to go fanning the flames in the press after the event. Our board also have handled things very badly and in a cowardly manner. Hopefully we will appoint a new manager soon and the whole saga will die a death. The coming weeks promise to be interesting as we wait to see who is appointed manager & what players come in.

I'd be really worried if this came to pass!

Whether you like Mr Brannigan or not it is a disgraceful way to treat anyone. He may have upset the board with some of his public utterances but someone had to speak out. The least that he deserved was to be told face to face. This just shows our board of directors to be spineless cowards.

Don't say things like that even as a joke!

Like others I'm not terribly disappointed to see any of these three go. Although given the choice I would have kept McLaren. Lots of natural talent, it is just the application of it that lacks at times. Lilley I think has just about had it at this level. Good for a booking nearly every other game. Captains are no use to you sitting in the stand. Think we'll probably get on better without Holmes than with him. Hos presence in the team all to often encouraged an aimless punt in his general direction. Strikers are paid to score goals, his return in this area this season has been poor. With the loss of McMenamin we have lost a number of goals, with no obvious replacement in view. I am a little concerned that the board of directors appear to be making these decisions off their own backs. These decisons for me are a managers to make, not the board's. Even more concerning that we don't appear to have a manager!

Decisions will have to be made sooner rather than later. The new season will be upon us before we know it & we don't even know who our manager is going to be. Until a decision is reached on that front any talk of signing players is pointless.

Sure I remember reading that he was also running a scouting company. The idea was that clubs who for whatever reason could not afford their own scouting system could "hire" a scout to watch their upcoming oppositon & signing targets etc who would then send a detailed report of the findings.