Otis Blue

Yep, returning from injury, but sadly I don't think he's quick enough any more. Still has great vision and game awareness though as good players always do. I'd be surprised if he does another season but you never know. Fabulous memories of him in his prime though.

Not surprised - thought Joseph did really well up at Inverness when he came on. Useful to have Fitzpatrick to come off the bench second half and add some energy.

Bit of firepower up front for the Dees there to be fair .....

Well, yes, in a perfect world ...... but just maybe, just possibly, not every poster on P&B will have the same levels of grammatical skills? It's a platform for everyone. Just a wee thought. PS - you're gonna see me drop a few clangers along the way, that's for sure!

Sensational stuff from The Courier there ....... should be a relief to the Dees reading that ...

....... and there was me almost erring dangerously close to optimism today ...... thanks for a needy dose of realism Sid

Very true ........ but then again Hearts and Thistle and Stranraer could say the same and its purely conjecture and of course we might not have rallied after all. We'll never know. As you say, its a shame we can't get to see this team first hand. I'm loving the effort and commitment recently.

I'm genuinely concerned for you Snafu ......... I'm told that cognitive therapy can produce wonderful results these days ....... perhaps a wee word with your GP might help?

Nice one ......... probably has to be Dick "The Bunnet" Campbell!

So I'll certainly be one of those who have mentioned both McGlynn and Campbell. However, what I didn't do was to say that they were the best in the division or to try to rank all 10 managers in the division - I haven't done that because I don't know enough about each manager and what their particular circumstances are this season. What I said was that it was clear those two were doing decent work at their clubs. This is all very subjective and probably the only objective measure is the final table at the end of the season - and by that yardstick you'd have to say that Neilson should get credit (even given his budget advantage) for twice winning this league with different clubs ....... well, he will, won't he? I haven't mentioned McElhone at Morton because I know nothing about the guy but by all accounts he's been willing to step up and cover a gap at what clearly appears to be difficult times at the club, so a harsh assessment of him would appear be unfair. Guys like McPake and Crawford, again I don't know much about apart from what the Dees and Pars say on here, but the expectations at these two clubs are set higher than they are at the likes of Queens etc. so they are under more pressure to succeed.

Yes, partly but the improvement started away to Raith before the window opened and in part its also been down to moving players positionally and the last two good results have been achieved without arguably our best player this season (Connor Shields) being out injured.

At the risk of being a bit picky RossB ........ is the pitch no supposed tae be rectangular like ....?

You're right of course in that it is hard to do a comparison on a totally like-for-like basis because they've all had different issues to deal with and rating these guys is a very subjective thing - but of course that's why we like the fitba and is why we are on these forums in the first place. That said, I think there's not much doubt that Dick Campbell and John McGlynn have done fine work so far at their clubs.

Yes, OK but you're being a wee bit selective there ....... I used innovative for his overall broad approach to rebuilding that squad, including but not limited to the loan market.

I think if Queens stay up this season that Allan Johnston has to get some credit. He started with what, 3 players on the books, and had to then rapidly build almost an entirely new squad capable of staying up with what I interpreted to be a small budget set for the prime goal of keeping us financially stable in a season that wouldn't have any gate income. So he's had to be innovative and has pulled together a squad of potential talent from our lower leagues, unknowns from the English non-leagues and from the loan market for young up and coming players at bigger clubs. That came with plenty of risk (remember what happened to Paul Hartley at Falkirk) and I wasn't alone among the Queens fans for having real fear for what the season might hold. But at the risk of tempting too much fate, it looks like (injuries and other stuff permitting) he might just possibly achieve the task set for him. So when you compare AJ with the likes of Neilson and the huge budget he's had, you have to think that AJ has done decent work so far.

Just read the Kane Hemmings article, good to see that he's starting to come to terms with it. We fans never really know the inner demons that some players have to deal with and in the rough and tumble world of competitive professional sport I guess its not easy to put your hand up and say "I'm struggling here". I read an interview with the ex Queens winger David Weartherston after he had retired and he said that he got so nervous before games that he was often physically sick and it was something he never really mastered. Then of course there was the really tragic case of Chris Mitchell who was part of our side that strolled League 1 when we got dumped into the seaside leagues - Chris was magnificent for Queens, a really talented player but when he dropped out of the game he couldn't cope, so sad. So hope more are like Kane and seek help if they have issues, well done to him!

Yep, probably didn't express myself very clearly there ..... that's what I meant though.

Yep, I remember early in that season sitting in the Excelsior up at Airdrie and we got thumped 4-0 and it could have been a lot more. I couldn't believe how ineffective our defence was. Then contrast that with what we saw later in the season with Lovell in commanding sweeper form - was like "night and day". Shame he didn't continue another season.

Its clear over the last two games that our defence is suddenly looking a whole lot more solid (hope this isn't the kiss of death before Saturday). Breen and Buchannan looked decent last night in the middle of the back line and Ayo and Nortei did a great job in the middle protecting the back line, not to mention some of Nortei's forays forwards. This got me to thinking that through adversity (ie our injuries/non-availabilities) sometimes managers can kind of stumble on a good formation that fits the players at his disposal - might be doing AJ an injustice here though. This reminded me of a season about 10+ years back when we had a poor start to the season (can you imagine that for Queens?) shipping heaps of goals in the process and we looked in big trouble. Big JT was in the back line and we had signed Stuart Lovell (ex Hibs etc) and were playing him in the midfield. Despite his pedigree, Lovell looked lost and like a ship out of water in midfield. Then second half of the season (and I think again it might have been due to injury) we put Lovell into the back line and he suddenly looked a completely different player seeming to read the play so much better and we rarely leaked goals from there on in. So its very much about finding the right position for the right players ..... kind of obvious I suppose .... Maybe AJ should stick with what he has discovered now?

Didn't really know the background - not great if its as you say. Normally, my natural tendency is to give these guys the benefit of the doubt.

Thought he was amusing at first but it got a bit annoying as the match went on. But then again I'm sure he's a volunteer and I'm damned sure I'd be worse if I tried it - so hate to criticise too much.

Maybe our bad luck and adversity (ie all our injuries/non-availabilities) lands us with a team selection/shape that just suits us?

Fine win. Rode our luck a bit, some great work by Ferguson in goal, great run from Joseph and finish from Nortey. Thought Nortey was quite good tonight. Also thought we had a better balance when Dobbs went off. Bit disappointed in Jones tonight - he talked himself up in his interview on Friday night but the ICT defence looked a bit strong for him tonight. This defensive shape with big Ayo in midfield is suiting us better I think - looking more solid.

The commentator's certainly different - sounds a bit of a posh lad, think we might get an....... "I say there young chap" ...... before the game's over. Is this the infamous Pixellot camera system? Hasn't always matched the action. Loved the run from Maxwell, thought he was fouled though, be nice to see a replay. ICT unlucky with the shot off the post. Queens quite tidy in midfield but not creating much. Need a bit more from Jones. Game seems to be passing Dobbs by a bit.

Yep, need Jones to occupy the defence and create some space for Dobbs to do his stuff.