Spider1975

Do wonder how p**d off Thomson is at being played as CB, but the obvious solution to that would be to buy an experienced CB for the rest to learn off of & move him back to midfield. Assume the rumours of him heading to EFL L1 have died down a bit but wouldn’t be surprised if we were to cash in on the basis Davidson might get a tune out of the remaining CB’s at some point, which would probably allow for another midfielder to be brought in…..after his omission from the starting line up, maybe more competition for Spong? As for Thomas I do wonder whether the budget isn’t just a little tighter than most other fans seem to think it is and further squad enhancements would predicate on a sale.

Callum Ferrie again magnificent yesterday and on any other day probably another MOTM performance, (the save towards the end of the 2nd half was showreel stuff). The talk for most of this year has been about McKenna and where he was/is likely to end up in January/end of the season. I’ve never been critical of Ferrie’s ability as a shot-stopper, only his distribution and his tendency to play safe by kicking long at times. At 25 he’s still got plenty of time to add that to his game, which if he does I could easily see him also moving on for a significant fee in the very near future.

Excellent from QP after a bit of a disastrous start. Also, Raith TV coverage excellent, puts to shame pretty much every other team and some broadcasters too,!

For all the talk of Dutch-style total football, Oranje-ball, Beuker-ball whatever, this has been some of the best one touch, quick passing football I’ve seen QP play since early last season.

Holy shiz, don’t anyone tell Beuker we just scored from a corner!

Sorry, that’s mental. I’m hoping CD knows more than me and this is inspired but he has been consistently solid all season, more so than anyone bar Ferrie, with Longridge, if the BBC is to be believed on the right. I’m now officially worried.

So to summarise, you don’t know either.

Right, that 2-5 result seems far too long ago; and the last few fixtures have been painful. New manager bounce and 3 sweet points QP please!

Bored in London so that’ll do nicely

Mal Boateng for me, but then he went and spoilt it by going to Dundee!

As widely rumoured, Barry Hepburn returning to Munich

Enjoyed reading that Going professional was never going to be easy and certainly there have been significant growing pains, given over a hundred years of being amateur and whilst the playing side, (up until March), seemed to be running on rails, there has and continues to be some angst about how professional the administration of the club has been, (see my post-Airdrie rant). You’re right that as supporters it seems from the outside very much like the club has/is being run if not by diktat from Mr Haughey, then certainly on the whim of an old boys club. For that to change will take significant supporter pressure which, given our numbers (in comparison to Mr Haughey’s spend) might be a while off, but the onus is on us to try to apply pressure to change that, if of course as a body of support we decide that the risks and uncertainties of the current set up outweigh the benefits. Nobody really knows a) exactly how much Lord Haughey has put in to the club, b) what his expected return is or c) what his future plans are out with the 10 year plan. The fact remains that other than ‘I know someone who met someone’s Aunt who told them that the tea lady said Dom Thomas was on x amount’ etc, nobody really knows what the playing budget is, or how much LH’s total outlay is. What there has been though is significant investment in the infrastructure of the club, (within the shambles of a ‘stadium’ we are led to believe there is first rate gym/player welfare facilities) and significant investment in the youth teams, (anyone that follows club photographer Ian Cairns on X will have seen his post with the youth team last week) What tends to grate with QP supporters is the constant Gretna comparison, which imho is just a little lazy given we evidently weren’t flush enough this time last year not to accept a minimal fee for Simon Murray and have recruited, almost exclusively, very young, very inexperienced playing staff over the summer……the polar opposite of Gretna. Purely on a supporters income vs team status we are likely to be loss making, however the plan was always for that youth investment to pay dividends; as you rightly say, a couple more finds like McKenna and we’ll be naming the VIP enclosure after Mr Beujker

According to Transfermarkt Sam Kane has returned from his loan at East Kilbride so the story maybe not without merit. Not too sure how good he [Kane] is, but with Ferrie so far this year keeping score-lines respectable, if he picks up an injury our already inexperienced and light squad becomes even more of a concern.

Think it was far simpler than that as I am led to believe he's settled in the Dunblane area where he grew up, so Perth suited from a family point of view.

If he can return Robson to his late 2022 form and get a tune out of Charlie Fox and/or Will Tizzard, ideally bringing in an experienced CB to play between them and a striker able to stretch defences and to assist Paton, I'll be happy although I'll temper that with wondering who, if we do get another striker in, would be likely to miss out; assuming Thomas will play, would it likely be Turner?

That is exactly what any QP fan should be afraid of. Remember our ex-DFO was adamant that it was nigh on impossible to score from a crossed ball, hence the fact we failed for half a season to even bother defending them.

Thomas's comments about the 'tactics' in the second half vs Airdrie letting the team down got me wondering about whether he was looking for a way out, or that he was sending an not so subtle message to the hierarchy to get a manager in pronto. To be fair on him and his undoubted talent at 27 he's in his prime and certainly should not be staring down the barrel at a year or more in L1. Again, I don't think we have the cash lying around like most seem to think we do, so would not be surprised at all should history repeat itself and we see another club Captain depart in January.

The counter argument is that we now have an almost blank canvass from which to reset. Too often, since the switch to professional status has there seemingly been a disconnect between the DFO-CEO-Manager axis. The CEO has evidently been tasked with implementing the Comrade Haughey's 10-year plan of youth development and progression through the leagues. For the first few years a succession of managers, (including the DFO himself) have, with a mixture of current, loaned and expensively acquired and proven players attained a modicum of progression, which only really kicked in when an experienced manager (OC) was brought in; issue was that, reading between the lines, OC felt an improvement on that mix was what was needed in direct contradiction with the DFO's vision who was intent on proving youth, almost exclusively would win through. Hopefully now some appointments can be made that might find a less extreme path that will add some pragmatism to aid/enhance the long-term ambition of youth development. I fear that with the appointment of Calum Davidson, if true, we're back to square one, with, as others have stated, there'll be a few 'meh' signings that might get us away from relegation and will hopefully buy the time we need for the QP youth to develop and come through/back stronger and more ready for either next season or that thereafter; maybe then we might be able to attract Bowyer/Coutts or promote someone from within.

Spong has genuinely been one of the few highlights for us this season

So far the only talking point is the incompetence of the officials.

McKenna

Agree in that I don’t think the vast majority of the players aren’t up to it, but we do lack leadership on the pitch, (arguably have done since Murray departed) and we lack at least one experienced CB. So if the players are generally ok, (with one or two additions) then it’s the coaching, tactics or resistance to change that’s the issue then surely Nuijten is dammed by association at the very least?

Mmm, Even if performances on the whole had been better, listening again to Dom Thomas’ post match interview after Airdrie he was openly critical of the tactics of holding on at 1-0; that’s not down to the players, that’s down to the manager. If the Captain is openly criticising him already then he’s a busted flush already. I wasn’t at the Thistle game so open to correction but we’re falling into the trap we did last year of continuing with a plan that’s stopped working, (last year 4-2-3-1, this year 4-3-3) but altering it by shifting personnel about the place. Paton needs someone with him and we need to be far quicker and more direct as we give teams far too much time to reset into banks of 4 as currently we’re just not good or fast enough to pick through defences using short passing. Given what he did at Dundee and the fact he made changes when things weren’t going to plan, I was buoyed (gettit?) when Gary Bowyer’s name was mentioned; alas that seems to have gone extremely quiet lately.

Yes, it was. Countless times last season many QP fans commented upon the fact that whilst the club was ‘professional’ the administration ,if not the playing side, was still very amateur-ish. The only thing that’s changed this year is that our relatively balanced squad and experienced manager has been replaced with a young, inexperienced squad with now two inexperienced managers. It is mind-boggling how no matter what the situation, you can always count on QPFC to shoot themselves in the foot. I’ll apologise now to Leanne Dempster as I can only assume her continued absence is down to either bereavement or ill-health as there is absolutely no excuse for a leader in any business or walk of life that doesn’t ’front-up’ when things aren’t going to plan. I’m a fan and have been for decades. As a QP fan you get used to losing. However I’m also a customer and I refuse to subsidise via ticket sales, no matter how small a proportion it is, the current status quo, or indeed, any more of her salary until there are definitive answers to questions such as, but not limited to: What’s happening, if anything, with Lesser; Where will we be playing next year, (location, not league as that looks like a given) What the plan is, now that Marjin Beuker has left, to make the club sustainable Who is going to implement this plan, both managerial, youth development and DoF

Head's down for cliche bingo. Look out for him throwing the 'tactics' under the bus.