[The Queen of the South thread]

Interesting. You can see he's hurting, and all credit for him coming out  - before Marvin - to be interviewed.  He knows he isn't playing well, but NONE of them are in the system that Marvin's trying to force upon them. Harry's body language says it all really.

Watching that plus Marvin's (typical) post-match interview, it's clear that there's little understanding or belief amongst the players in what Marvin's trying to do. I don't doubt that Marvin's trying his best (if he wants to be a successful manager he has to!) but how he believes the team should play and what the players believe, or are capable of, are light years apart.

Marvin's stubborn-ness to stick with a failed system, and his lack of inventiveness and flexibility, are just killing the club and demotivating the players. You can blame the players all you like, but a decent manager can convey energy and enthusiasm and endear in the team a way of playing that suits the squad and that actually works.  In that, Marvin had failed in spades.

Enough is enough now (and has been for a long time); he has to go.

[The Queen of the South thread]

21 minutes ago, Rjc-1988 said:

That is a great post and encapsulates the position brilliantly. As you say it is very old fashioned of us all to think about results and league tables but I would also throw in some entertaining football as another decent barometer. While no supporter wants to live with endless defeats at least if the football is entertaining you can take some comfort from the fact that you have enjoyed the match day experience.

While I guess it may have some relevance I am not really that interested if our defensive midfielder has drifted 10 yards out of his “patrolling zone” and not stuck rigidly to the “plan”. I am, however, expecting a FT squad of over 25 players in L1 to be able to get on the front foot and look as if we are setting out to dominate the ball, create chances and score goals. We are incidentally hopeless at all of those key success factors. Rather than waste endless amounts of time concocting futile game plans Bartley could get his players to watch what great teams do to win matches and try to replicate it as best we can at out our level. 

Two good posts which pretty much sum everything up.

The only plus for me yesterday (clutching at straws for any positives!) is that we seem a bit stronger physically as a team than at the start if the season, although Johnstone, Connolly and Ferguson are still too lightweight for this league.  Brydon was my MoM; strong, competent  and can't fault his effort and willingness to try to sort that mess out.

Some of the guys in the enclosure need to take a good look at themselves though - the offensive language being shouted in the second half when the enclosure was filling with kids and parents (seeking autographs at full-time) was ridiculous and belongs in a bygone age.  Fair enough shouting your displeasure (and the performance was truly awful and frustrating), but screaming shouts like 'useless f***ing pr**k' and similar language have no place in a public sports venue with kids about. I'm not offended (been around long enough, and remember the days when it was much worse) but I was embarrassed for those families that were there.

No doubt that'll be a few more kids and parents not returning . Come on lads, I know the team were dreadful but get a grip of yourselves and show a wee bit of respect.

[Queens v Alloa]

Maybe it's just me, but I actually quite enjoyed the match today

After some of the earlier appalling games this season, I vowed not to return until something significant changed, ie a new manager or significant signings. But the Stephen Dobbie Testimonial whetted my appetite again (and don't forget; I've been going to Palmerston for 50 years, so have pretty much seen it all) and I toddled along today.  But I had absolutely no expectation, and to be honest expected us to lose.

But we didn't. Sure, we struggled up front. But I thought the effort was there. There's no getting away from the fact that many of the current team just aren't good enough, but although poor quality from a football perspective the performance was far from hopeless today. There was always some hope, which is more than I expected.

I thought that Todd, Ambrose, McIntyre, and McGuffie did well. Connelly good in patches. Poor Hutchinson tried his best, but he's a yard short of most things, made few tackles, and won almost nothing in the air; not what you need from a centre forward. That said, I thought the cheering when he was subbed was out of order - the team performance wasn't his fault, and after all he tried his best.

Anyway, it was an end-to-end game that although devoid of any real quality at least kept me interested for the 90 mins. I've seen much worse in my 50 years!

 

[Falkirk v Queens]

10 minutes ago, Frankie S said:

I was a Bartley supporter at first. I thought he was a refreshing appointment. I thought he’d do well. I’m now resigned to the fact that we’re going nowhere under his stewardship. His eye for a player (even taking into account the limited budget at his disposal) is at best questionable, and the brand of football he has us playing is stiflingly negative and hard to watch. It’s increasingly difficult to make much of a case for his retention. I suspect he has this transfer window to turn things round, and if we miss out on the play-offs, he’ll be gone by the end of the season.

That sums it all up pretty well. I too found his appointment 'refreshing' and had high hopes, as I'm sure the Board did.  But for the first time in 50-odd years I've stopped going to matches. And that includes the dreadful seasons in the '80s and early 90s. Sad really.

However, I was back today for the Dobbie Testimonial. Great to see some of our past high-quality players on display, and although I enjoyed the occasion it did make me realise how far we've fallen.

 

[The Queen of the South thread]

4 hours ago, Nithsdale Wanderer said:

A tale of two interviews.

As referenced above, Bartley is frustrated at the mistakes being made time after time especially after he has been so thorough in his preparation. If only Football Management was so simple as telling players what to do and they do it every time !

The penny doesn't seem to drop with him that if he keeps doing the same and the players keep doing the same and it isn't working then he is making mistakes as well - not just them.  As a Manager, in any field, you have to get to know your team members and how to motivate each one. Every individual is different and will learn in their own way. It is his job to find that out for each one and deliver accordingly.  

It sounds like he is taking a ' one size fits all ' approach ' which is easy and frankly, lazy.  I could well be wrong as I don't know what is happening on the inside as I am not there.  I mention that as Bartley seems to me had a bit of a go in a  very sneering, arrogant way during the Dundee Utd interview when Sandra mentioned some fans thought he had lost the  dressing room. He responded along the lines of they don't see what happens on the inside , I do,  inferring that they should all shut up as they don't know what they are talking about.

To the second interview from Jim McIntyre at Arbroath.

Arbroath are struggling too and he talked about a lot of similar things - preparation, game plans, instructions.

He recognises players will make mistakes - Bartley can't seem to grasp that -  " players are not robots ...  but when they do make mistakes it is the   Managers job to HELP them".  He also said " things happen during games and players need to think for themselves sometimes ". Heaven help any of our players that might do that !

Going back to understanding instructions McIntyre also said that a player might not play well but he shouldn't come off the pitch saying he didn't understand what he was being asked to do.

From these two interviews it is clear what the overall framework is for preparing and coaching a team to perform, but the key thing is the Managers approach to that and how best to deliver their message to each player in order to achieve maximum performance.

Bartley and McIntyre want to achieve the same things but they are very different characters. I have always enjoyed listening to McIntyre , comes across as a very positive guy though I am sure he can ' give it out ' when required.  Even when winning - rare I know - Bartley rarely cracks a smile and it is business as usual. You need that positivity around the training ground to carry into games not a culture of fear of making a mistake.

Listening to McIntyres interview just reinforced to me that he would have been able to lift the whole place. 

He spoke very fondly of his time at Palmerston too.

To sum up, Bartley seems incapable of changing therefore we need to make the change asap.

 

 

Nicely put. Public ridiculing of individual players, or even groups of players, is a sign of poor, and in this case inexperienced and naive, management.

Such a shame, as I was happy when he was appointed and for the first few games last season. However, there's not even a glimmer of light now, and for the first time since the mid-1970s I've stopped going to games when I'm free.  I'm actually embarrassed for the Club at the moment. I'll be back when he's gone, but not before.

[Queens v Montrose]

Pretty much agree with everything posted before this.

Midfield absolutely way too lightweight, Todd excepted (who I thought was OK) and was completely overrun.  Ferguson looked absolutely lost, and was so absent it was like playing with only 10 men: made virtually no tackles, ran around marking nobody, and just didn't seem to want the ball. The only thing I recall he did was give away a daft free kick just outside the box. No wonder he was hooked at half-time.
 

McKechnie I thought played well, but was up against it with little support from the rest. Mackay wasn't good enough last year and still isn't. Mimnaugh was off the pace today, especially first half. Logan had a right off-day. Walker started OK but faded.  Connolly didn't make much of an impact. Reilly works as hard as ever but not effective today; I'd have taken him off and kept McKechnie on alongside new boy Hutchinson.
 

On the plus side, Gibson was excellent when he came on (has to start); the new keeper Stone looks OK; Hutchinson showed some nice touches once he settled down (the bloke in the enclosure mouthing-off loudly that he wasn't good enough after he'd only been on the pitch 20 mins on his debut was talking out his a**e); and McLelland I think has the makings of a fine centre-half. Ambrose again did what was required when he came on and settled the ship somewhat.

 

Overall a pretty disappointing afternoon, and I'll be interested to see Marvin's take on it all and whether he holds his hands up and admits to completely screwing-up the team selection.

[The Queen of the South thread]

11 hours ago, Skyline Drifter said:

I genuinely have no idea what some people are seeing with Todd. He turned 29 yesterday. He's not at the end of his career. There's perhaps an impression as he's been around for so long that he's older than he is but he's comfortably got another 3 or 4 years at full time football I'd have said barring major injury. He played over 40 games last season, scoring 6 goals and was probably our most creative central player. He's not the winger he was in his first spell and I'd accept he doesn't have the legs for that any more but as a central midfielder there aren't many better at this level. I'm delighted he's back.

And the notion that he's not a leader is nonsense too. Chris Higgins he's not (few are) but he's a perfectly good captain and I'm really not sure who else in the current squad would be a better shout.

Spot on!

[Queens v Clyde]

One of the worst matches I’ve seen at Palmerston for a long, long time. Truly awful.
I thought Wilson was the only consistently decent player, with Todd and Gibson doing OK in spells but unable to break the monotonous ineptitude of the team as a whole, Gibson’s excellent goal excepted.  Things picked up a bit when Irving came on; he did OK considering.

Confidence and morale seemed rock-bottom, and for the life of me I couldn’t see what the game plan was. Desperate stuff.

Plenty for the new manager to get his teeth into!!

Happy New Year!!
 

[Peterhead v Queens]

1 hour ago, 19QOS19 said:

 

 

By biggest frustration with Murray is his lack of carrying it forward. He seems to want to shield the ball and then look for a pass - not a terrible idea but it would be good to see him occasionally try and take a man on. His lack of going for the ball but instead waiting for it to come to him resulted in Airdrie breaking away twice last week.

As I said at the time, I didn't think he was particularly terrible but I honestly can't believe it was regarded as a MoM performance.

 

Completely agree. I like Murray, and he's got a good bit of talent, but for me he lacks grit and too often drifts out of games. You don't see him getting stuck-in very often, and as he's no heavyweight he gets pushed around too often.  Needs to up his game really, but hopefully the coaching staff are working on that with him.

[Friday night Top of the Table clash]

Really enjoyed that watch last night. There’ve been some awful Fri night Championship TV matches but this wasn’t one of them.

Well done Arbroath There’ll be a few Championship boards looking at the Arbroath set-up and wondering if that’s the way to go.  Tidy, well-maintained ground (love the mood lighting in the tunnel!), entertaining team, personable manager, and a visible connection with the fanbase.  Just makes me sad the my home team has none of that whatsoever at the moment

[Hearts v Queens]

3 hours ago, Lyle Lanley said:

Priceless! What a star this guy is!