Diamonds are Forever
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Posts posted by Diamonds are Forever
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16 hours ago, DonnieMurdo said:
We could have played till tomorrow and wouldn't have scored...
Our home form is relegation material.
Very worrying.
Interesting looking at your results. I think you've only lost 2 of the last 9 games (since we beat you on 2nd January). Defensively you are also much better than the surrounding teams. Your problem is the number of draws - 4 of the last 5 being draws. In isolation a draw is usually not bad (like ours yesterday was a good point given the context) but in a season when safety is going to be easily 40+ points drawing games over any sustained period is literally relegation form, even though it can be spun as 'unbeaten'.
Wouldn't take much to turn those draws into wins and put a string of wins together though.
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I thought last week's draw was a poor result (albeit QP have definitely improved) but I think this week's was a good point. Gained on Arbroath and Dunfermline and didn't lose ground on anyone else. Plus off the back of a busy schedule I think it's a lot to expect the players to put in a great performance. I think today was a case of don't lose, keep ICT at arm's length and move onto next week. I thought if we got 8 points from the run of QP, Dunfermline, ICT and Arbroath that would be a great return and we have a chance to get that next week.
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Great result, gives us a bit more of a cushion down to 9th both in terms of points and number of teams beneath us.
The last 2 away results show that for all the 'philosophy' chat that surrounds us we have developed into a really solid, well drilled side who can dig out results. When we're not giving goals away by trying to pass it out from the back we're a difficult side to score against.
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14 minutes ago, kingjoey said:
I’m undecided about the Celtic one, but with today’s Laws the Hearts one is definitely a penalty. Arm miles away from his body.
The law specifically says that players should not be judged to have made their body unnaturally bigger if the position of the arm is a consequence of the player's movement or situation. He is literally in mid-air stretching and being nudged by 2 players. His arm being miles away from his body means nothing without context, and the context means it's not a penalty.
People seem to be removing responsibility from the officials here by claiming they have no choice by inventing new offside laws. They do have a choice, the law says it's not a penalty, it's incompetent officiating.
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5 minutes ago, Marten said:
It's a penalty according to the rules. I still think the new handball rule is shite but the referee had no choice really.
Celtic's penalty definitely wasn't one according to the rules.
What 'new' part of the rule justifies that penalty award?
His arm is in a 'natural' position being used to balance himself mid-air (which the law explicitly allows for) and it's knocked onto his arm. There is nothing in any law which justifies that being given despite these mythical 'new laws' I see people talking about.
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5 minutes ago, Biscuits said:
His boot is high but it’s totally accidental
Incompetence is not a reason for it not being a red card.
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1 hour ago, Otis Blue said:
There is another complication to add to the mix in the final 9 games ... Falkirk have pretty well won the league now and their focus will start to wane as the finish line approaches, giving some squad players game time etc, and Accies who are safe in 2nd will want to manage their squad also re injuries etc as they approach the promotion playoffs. So expect to see some unpredictable results from their remaining fixtures.
Not sure that's true with Falkirk, there's no real reason to give squad players a game as there's nothing to save the first 11 for. They have an unbeaten run to continue and will be desperate to do that. There may be the odd player who they are not sure about offering a contract to who gets a run out but I doubt it will mean any major changes to the team. Similar situation to Dunfermline last season (think they had a club record to go for?) and they kept on going full steam to the end of the season.
Accies are a different situation as teams assured of play-offs always mix things up. However their form has been very up and down anyway so there probably won't be any noticeable difference.
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11 hours ago, Passionate said:
The games are coming thick and fast, Queens Park played well and could feel a little unfortunate not to away with 3 points, good game though and we fought our corner, giving free goals away is simply not good enough at this level, and when you struggle to score , you are just shooting your toes off..
Onto the team, the entire left side and midfield was a struggle , Cammy is struggling, was he brought back too quick from injury, he just lacks the snap he normally has, McStravick is an enigma, he has talent but struggles when to use it, he offers nothing defensively and with Cammy struggling behind him, it was a problem.. Frizzell I have been saying for months has hit his ceiling, the championship is a step too far pace wise and looking at his body language he knows it, when we shuffled the pack second half he played better in a wider role and put in many a decent cross though, maybe try him on that position.... It looks like Rhys McCabe is managing his load, but we miss him badly in the middle of the park when missing. , McMaster has potential but was well off it today again just like at Morton... Today was a must not lose, and we have to be happy enough with a point.
I've been wanting this for a while. He was a wide player coming through at Killie and it shows at this level where he simply doesn't have the touch, awareness and close control in those congested areas that a natural attacking midfielder has. Last season ended well but I thought for chunks of last season he was poor in there as well. When he's out wider there's not as much pressure on his touch as he has more space and he can go by a man and put good crosses in. His best season for us was his first under Murray when he played in the wider role in a diamond, he would get the ball in wider areas on the half turn in space and drive up the pitch.
His goals/assists return from his attacking midfield role isn't good enough and I think he's had a long enough run to show it, I'd move him a bit deeper and wider and put McStravick or Lyall in there.
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Just now, Ghost of Prague said:
It was a relief to snatch a point although the game could really have gone either way.
I was disappointed in McMaster today and very surprised we took Telfer off so early in the second half.
Superb effort from Mason for the goal but not quite sure it deserved the MOTM award from the sponsors. Megwa was our best player to me without a doubt.
There's definitely plenty of resting/rotation going on at the moment for this busy spell of games. McCabe took himself out last Saturday but back in on Tuesday, I'd imagine the same will happen on Tuesday. I don't think he thinks he can play 2 games a week so will play himself in the tougher games. Telfer's played the full 90 of previous 2 games so wouldn't be surprised if he was brought off a bit early for Tuesday. The strikers are getting rotated round, and I was surprised Hancock was available today but assume he was rested and only used if needed, which he was. Would expect him to start Tuesday too and Ballantyne to drop out. Like others I think Frizz needs rested/dropped but he seems to be the one who is immune, I just don't think he offers enough and although we don't have amazing alternatives I do think Lyall or McStravick could do a job in that role.
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18 minutes ago, Kenny_m said:
Yes, it might take us down the league but if we draw our remaining 11 games that would take us to 43 points which I would expect be enough for any side to finish 8th.
If results this weekend are anything to go by it could be more. I'd say 45 is safety, anything between 40-44 and you could still be in trouble. ICT getting 4 wins and a draw in 9 games is perfectly feasible, as is Ayr/Dunfermline/QP getting 4 wins each. I know everyone has to play each other so they can't all win, but equally it means every week teams beneath us are guaranteed to get some points as they are playing each other. The top sides are poor so every game is winnable for every team.
Not saying it's a disaster of a result, but was just surprised to see people think it was quite a good result or that 'nothing was lost' - nothing was lost to QP but we lost ground on a few teams round about us which is ultimately what matters.
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51 minutes ago, Rhys McCabe Hype Train said:
Think that’s actually a decent point for us especially after going 1-0 down, and it takes some points off of another team around us battling to stay out of that 8th spot.
Not sure I share that positive thought, obviously it's preferable to losing when 1-0 down and in isolation it's an okay result as this version of QP are a decent side. But in the context of the season drawing at home to a bottom half side is a bad result. This weekend we've lost 2 points on Arbroath, Dunfermline and ICT, gained 1 on Ayr and gained nothing from QP despite playing them at home. We now only have 4 home games left and it's been our home form which has largely kept us above he relegation spots.
Draws will probably be enough to keep Arbroath at bay, but other than that they will have us heading down the league given other teams results at the moment.
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6 hours ago, thediamonddude said:
My mate and I were talking about that game in 1995 last night at the game funnily enough! Remember it well - Utd had just been relegated and we scored two late goals to win the game 2-1, with Peter Duffield coming off the bench to get the winner. Might be wrong but pretty certain they didn’t beat us that season at all, despite going on to win promotion straight back up.
Anyway, that really was the definition of a team performance last night - with everyone pulling together, defending brilliantly and causing Utd a fair few problems at the back as well. As has been noted elsewhere, we were a bit more direct than usual at times but I like that we can do that and it’s an important trait to be able to switch things up.
Particular plaudits for me would go to Josh Rae (as comfortable and composed as I’ve seen him this season), Janny, Kanayo, Dycey, Rhys, and Charlie Telfer. Above all though, absolutely delighted for Gabby - who worked his socks off and took his goal so well.
Without being too negative, I did think that Frizz looked a bit off the pace again last night and Cammy still seems a yard or two short to me, which is understandable with just being back but would lead you to question whether he’s been brought back too quickly.
Also got to say, I know there’s been a lot of clamour for him in here and I was one of his staunchest defenders when he was criticised in years gone by, but I do think that Gal has hit his ceiling. He’ll still grab you the odd goal at this level and has been a tremendous servant of that there is no doubt, but he should be no more than a bit-part player for me for the rest of the season, as he just doesn’t quite offer enough.
Anyhoo, delighted for all of the players and staff who have shown again that they are resilient and can stand up to adversity - those celebrations at the end were beautiful!
Roll on Saturday!
I think he's been like that most of the season, he always looks a bit heavy legged to me. I'd expect him to offer a similar performance level as someone like Telfer does but if you compare them this season it's night and day. Not always a huge fan of reducing everything to stats but Frizz has 0 goals and 2 assists in 23 league games, and that's as our most advanced midfielder. Our lack of quality up front has been spoken about and doesn't help, but that's simply not a good enough return from someone playing that position, you can't really spin it any other way.
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That keeper looks like he's never played before. Obviously the defending is terrible but he completely sells himself for the 1st and the 6th. The 4th his positioning is hopeless and leaves the goal empty, and the 5th is calamitous.
He's mastered the art of waving his arms around at everyone else though in that kind of 'what am I playing with?!' type way, unfortunately for him he appears to be at the same level as the rest of them.
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18 minutes ago, Arab_R_us said:
Frustrating night. Have to say this total football that Mckabe is support to bring is a myth. All they did all night was the keeper punted the ball up to the strikers and then look for 2nd balls.
There's no doubt it's grown arms and legs a bit, McCabe is good at saying the right things to sound like a modern manager and that's caught on with the media. In reality we're not particularly attacking (as our goals for shows) and we do have more variety in our play than people think (away from home anyway, at home we tend to play the same most games).
It is true that generally we try to build from the back and a huge amount of our goals come from that, as do a few of our conceded goals (see recent Ayr game). Last night was probably us a bit more direct going with 2 strikers, but we don't typically play like that. I certainly don't see it as a weakness at all that McCabe will mix things up, there was a spell early last season where he seemed he might become one of these stubborn managers who plays the same way no matter what, however he's learned to adapt and alter things depending on the opposition and that's what's allowed us to go from a free scoring side last season to a pretty solid side this season with virtually the same players. If we'd kept playing how we did last season without improving the squad we'd already be relegated. If you'd said this time last season that we'd be able to go away to Dundee Utd and win 2-0 you'd have been laughed at, it's the fact we've been able to play different styles that has given us a chance this season.
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9 minutes ago, FLDiamond said:
It WAY too early to discuss the play off spot and obviously Dunfermline, ICT, QP, Airdrie are in that mix. That could go down the the final day and it probably will.
but Arbroath are down. It’s over for them. And I think they’ll be cannon fodder over the next few weeks
I think they'd probably need to win at least 6 of their remaining 11 games, maybe a couple of draws too. And given they've won 1 of their last 18 league games that does look pretty much impossible. It's so hard for any side to go on a winning run in this league, let alone a side with Arbroath's issues.
I don't agree they'll be cannon fodder though, I'd never be very confident of us picking up 3 points at Gayfield... and they'll still take points off a few teams.
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1 minute ago, senorsoupe said:
Well done Liverpool and their youngsters. But Poch losing this game with a Billion pound squad will never not be funny
In fairness to Poch the fact Chelsea have spend that money on complete and utter dross isn't his fault.
Neville alluded to it, Chelsea had 'bigger names' but when you actually look at the ability of the players it's not quite the chasm in ability that it should be.
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18 minutes ago, madton said:
Just watched highlights.
-Our second goal does look offside.
-The challenge on Crawford wasn't as bad as first viewing. Yellow probably right.
-Mullen and McGregor was just a coming together, McGregor actually jumps into him if anything. Mullen does make contact with the ball.
-The Airdrie pen claim is never a pen.
-Marking at Airdrie goal was shocking.
-Quitongo needs to score that header which would have killed the game.
- Airdrie fans booing Quitongo as he assists Oakley, lovely.
I'm not sure, there's no way to definitely tell but if you look across to Taylor-Sinclair when the ball is played they look around level. It's certainly very close so wouldn't blame the linesman. As I said in our thread our back-line needs to be a better unit, ATS is behind everyone else.
I disagree with Mullen's challenge though, he makes contact with the ball but only after barging into McGregor, I think it's a foul. However it would have been a yellow and a free-kick so it's irrelevant to the outcome.
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4 minutes ago, Kunter said:
Who else can you blame for that yesterday other than the players?
And it's there on screen, just playground stuff.
As for Sandra the way it's going Queens will just pull these interviews altogether.
Every game of football is won or last by 'individual errors' and 'individual quality', individual moments within the system and structure provided by the management. They are also all his signings/re-signings are they not? So best case scenario is he's just a terrible judge of player. It's a totally meaningless statement designed purely to abdicate responsibility from management. Managers never want to discount individual brilliance, but are always quick to discount individual errors as not their fault. Can't have it both ways.
There could maybe be some merit in the comment if the errors were the exception to the norm, say if Falkirk lose next week to a couple of howlers. But when you're doing as badly as Queens there is quite clearly a deeper underlying cause i.e. the manager. The fact he's still trying to pass off these results with that excuse is incredible.
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13 minutes ago, Passionate said:
We have to play players that fit the way Rhys wants to play, we will lose goals if we play Cammy or Megwa and even Hancock at CB, Cammy and Megwa are too small and Hancock cannot defend, although Hancock is probably our best option off the left, why on earth would you want to play him CB.. Watson, Fordyce is our best CB partnership and that has been proven over the season, question.. would Oakley have been able to bully Watson the way he did with Fordyce, I don't think so....
And while we are at it, the midfield was a complete mess. McMasters lack of commitment was glaring and just wanted to play square passes to players.who were marked or getting closed down, Frizzell offered nothing again, as the skipper he should be leading by example but his legs are gone for this level, Telfer was our best player covered every blade of grass trying to make play, he failed but is that due to him or the reluctance of his team mates, Lyall who I like, was supposed to play on the hole behind Todorov that hole was a 40 yard area because we were playing so deep,. impossible to be effective that far apart and we criticise Todorov but like Lyall what exactly do we want him to do he had scraps at best to work with...
The striking options that came on Gall, Gabby and O Connor that has a League 1 strike force written all over it, that says enough....
Honestly I think that's the wrong way around. Part of the reason the midfield is so ineffective going forward is because absolutely nothing is sticking up front. Todorov absolutely has to do better than what he is doing. I'm not asking for Prime Zlatan up there on his own, but win a few fouls, take the ball in properly, lay it off to forward moving midfielders. The service he is getting is absolutely typical of lower league service to a lone striker and if he can't utilise it to some extent then he shouldn't be playing. Someone like Dowds last week showed what an extremely limited striker can still do. Oakley is a better player but he also is hardly getting great service and is smaller physically than Toddy. At the very least get your body between ball and man and go down and get fouls, but he just gets brushed out the way.
I agree the midfield has issues by the way and that they don't offer enough going forward, but Todorov is part of that. You need some kind of focal point to play off otherwise you get stuck playing sidewards passes all game, which we do.
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10 minutes ago, Diamond8 said:
Has anyone else noticed how poor (by his own standards) McMaster has been recently? It seems like he’s really struggling with the physicality at times but impressing technically other times. He also seems to get a really easy ride of it when he is poor where as others like Telfer etc get it stinking when they don’t hit at least 8/10.
I think we could manage his game time a bit better which would be easier if we had Aiken fit.
McMaster is a good player when we are dominant in possession because his defensive weaknesses aren't exposed and he's neat and tidy on the ball. However in an evenly fought game he doesn't have the ability to play as a solid defensive midfielder, as you say he's weak physically (mainly due to his age in fairness) and doesn't get close enough to players. There's no way that Quitongo should have been able to keep the ball for that long and then get a cross in yesterday. Get closer and/or foul him earlier in the move if necessary.
Like you say ideally he should be playing home games against weaker sides to begin with until he learns the game a bit more and gets stronger. Morton away is the last game you want to be starting him in this league.
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56 minutes ago, ShineOnYouCrazyDiamonds said:
I like Watson enough at right back but I’ve never been too convinced by him at centre back. He is certainly more experienced there than Hancock or Megwa but I am keen to see those two plus Ballantyne play. Watson (or McCabe) definitely options to partner Fordyce but that likely means one of Ballantyne, Megwa, Hancock missing out which seems such a waste.
Ballantyne still looks rusty to me so I wouldn't worry about having to leave one (at the moment, him) out and phase him back in. We also have loads of games so rotating between some of them will be needed. I think we're already doing that and would fully expect McCabe and Watson to play on Tuesday. The focus should just be on getting a system that gets the best out of the 11 playing and if that means that a good player misses out then so be it.
If any of them could play as a striker I'd be up all for a bit of experimenting! But sadly I doubt it...
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For all the complaining, the 2nd goal is comfortably onside. ATS plays him on in the middle.
Us losing goals from failed offside traps has been a theme of ours in recent weeks. Need to be better drilled in that area.
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37 minutes ago, Passionate said:
We had a reserve game.on midweek where we got our usual riding 7 - 1 from Queens Park, is this not the type of fixture to get players extra time in the legs, Ballantyne, McGill could have done with a tune up, Gall as well but not sure due to PT status. We are cannon fodder to most teams in that league, which is basically irrelevant, but we don't seem to maximise it for additional game time..
Yeah that's how I presumed we'd use the reserve team, but seemingly not. ATS has hardly played for months so not sure how ready he'd be to play when needed (like today!), but he doesn't play for the reserves, Ballantyne, McGill and Gallagher all coming back from injuries but not featured. Even early on in the season when Todorov was only getting 10 mins as a substitute he wasn't playing for them (from what I remember).
I've said before I couldn't care less about the reserve results, but if it's just a team full of fringe players who never play for the first team then I'm not sure what the point is. It seems more like a youth team than a reserve team.
McCabe is probably worried about these guys picking up more injuries playing reserves so would rather get them back to fitness by gradually getting them back into the first team where the risk is at least worth something in terms of maybe getting us results, but that's really not an optimal solution. I know first team games will obviously be much quicker and higher intensity, but they shouldn't really be used to get players up to a basic level of fitness which seems to be the case with a few of them.
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I thought we played quite well in parts but have the old problem of being really short of quality up front. I'm not expecting a Shankland standard player but you have to have someone who will hold the ball up, win headers and get free-kicks, Todorov did none of that today, I thought he was really poor even considering the standard of opposition. McGregor can run channels and tried hard, as did Todorov, but neither can offer enough in a game like that to pose a real threat. I know Todorov is on a wee goal run just now but it is still my concern for the rest of the reason that we lack ruthlessness up front. I was sat watching the Morton game the other night thinking we'd be a real force if we had a player like Oakley leading the line for us. We're a nice side defence through to midfield but are a bit blunt up front.
On the positives I thought Watson and Hancock were excellent - with the exception of the 2nd goal where Hancock was doing the hokey cokey with the defensive line, he either had to play offside or drop deep but ended up doing neither. More than made up for that though with his cross for the goal and all round performance though. Watson was our best player 2nd half and it'll be interesting see where Ballantyne fits in as neither deserve to be dropped.
I obviously wanted to win but part of me is glad it's out the way and we can start focusing on the league again. Ayr is a huge game on Saturday, a win there and I'd have huge confidence we can start looking up the table, a defeat and things are looking a bit hairy again with the 2 toughest fixtures in the league to come.
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The Queen of the South thread
in Scottish League 1 General Chatter
Posted
Regardless of whether he should or shouldn't be sacked, I can't remember the last time I saw a manager perform as badly in comparison to the club's expectations and not lose his job. It's just so rare nowadays for someone underperforming that badly to not lose his job. You might understand it if Bartley had a great CV to buy him some time, or that it wasn't his players and he had the 'judge me when it's my team' excuse, but neither is the case.
He must be on a tidy salary if the board are still reluctant to sack him due to the cost of a pay-off. Or they have an incredible level of faith in someone who has done nothing to earn that faith.