Palmerstunned

It’s the Dumfries way…

Another good update from the club and as expected a major rebuild of the squad for next season.

Really good first interview (although admittedly the bar is extremely low after some of Bartley’s efforts). You’d have to assume that any incoming manager would want some reassurances about the club before accepting the job, so on that basis I think there’s a couple of key questions answered here… Full-time/part-time - Given Murphy’s emphasis on wanting to manage full- time football, I think this confirms that we will continue as a full-time team next season. New Board - he mentions the new board coming in. As a friend of McLinden, I assume he’s aware of the Board situation and sought some reassurances before accepting the job, so this indicates the Board situation may be close to being resolved. Positive to hear him talk about bringing some physicality into the squad - I know we’d all love to see Queens playing silky football like Man City or Real Madrid, but the reality of this division is that strength and speed get results. We’ve definitely lacked physical presence in all areas of the park for a number of seasons now. Also good to hear him mention bringing the fans back in and getting a buzz back about the place! This was one of Bartley’s biggest failings, he just didn’t seem to care or think it was his job. It’s amazing the difference a few weeks can make - I’ve gone from feeling completely despondent about the worst Queens team in a long time, to feeling positive about next season and getting behind the team. Appreciate it’s very early days and a lot has still to happen, but nice to have some much needed hope again!

Exactly this. Gibson and Bartley had combined management experience of zero. Murphy has 7 years as manager of an SPFL club. It’s not even close.

A decent appointment in my opinion. A relatively young manager hopefully on the way up, with knowledge of the division and the local area. Not sure what more we could have asked for to be honest? Rather that than some so called ‘experienced’ journeyman manager on his 11th job in as many years hoping that this time it will all click into place. Time will tell of course, but it’s genuinely nice to have a bit of optimism and hope again!

A lot of valid points being made here. It just strikes me that when so much is often made of teams having ‘home advantage’, whether that’s a result of less travelling, having a connection and familiarity with the ground or town, or the atmosphere created by the home fans - it seems that we don’t currently benefit from any of these things.

So only 12 points out of a possible 48 at home yet 22 out of 48 away. The team train in Hamilton. i don’t know the numbers but I’m guessing that most of our current first team squad and the manager all live in the central belt. How often do they come to Palmerston/Dumfries? Is it only on match days? I willing to bet that most of these guys have to travel further to play a ‘home’ game than they do to most away games. So, we’ve got a team who mostly have to travel a decent distance to a ground they only visit every couple of weeks in front of crowd who are hardly known for their vocal support (when was the last time anyone heard any chants or singing at Palmerston that didn’t come from away supporters?). Difficult to see how that creates any sort of ‘home’ advantage?

Fair enough re Walker, I just think he has plenty of energy, gives us some pace down the left and isn't frightened to have a go at opposing defenders. There's been a number of times when he's made good runs down the left and made it into the box, but agree that the final ball/end product is lacking. Perhaps in a team that seems intent on passing it sideways and backwards he seems like one of the few players that injects a bit of energy when he comes on.

First time posting on here, as a long time Queens supporter and reader of this message board the current state of the club has finally prompted me into action! This is easily the worst Queens team I've had the misfortune to watch in many years going to Palmerston. Yes we've had poor teams in the past (often very poor) but generally there has always been at least a glimmer of hope, a bit of fight or passion in the team that as a supporter you felt might get us back into games, even if more often than not it didn't actually end up getting us a result. However, that's been totally absent this season and I now find myself going to games with absolutely no hope or expectation that this team will do anything other than collapse to another abject, pathetic, toothless defeat. Gibson, Brydon, Todd, Reilly, Connelly, Cochrane, McKay, Walker - these are all players that can and should be capable of doing a job at this level. Gibson and Walker are arguably our 2 most creative attacking players out wide and should cause problems for any team in this division, yet Bartley consistently leaves them on the bench or plays them far too deep to make any difference. As a local boy, Gibson is exactly the kind of talent we should be nurturing, if, as reported, he does leave in the summer then I will lay the blame solely at Bartley's door. The reality of Scottish League 1 football is that it ain't always pretty, strength, pace, aggression and direct attacking football are what gets results at this level. Trying to play it out from the back and continual sideways passing like Man City or Real Madrid won't work at this level, the players just don't have the skill to be able to pull it off. Teams that try to play that way at this level will very quickly get found out, as we've seen all too often this season. Like many, I was genuinely excited when Bartley came in and was desperate for him to be a success, but he's clearly way out of his depth and his naive tactics, stubbornness and arrogant management style have sucked the life out of the players, the supporters and the club. He makes absolutely no attempt to create a connection or build a rapport with the fans, witness how he always immediately disappears straight down the tunnel at the final whistle with absolutely no acknowledgement of the supporters that continue to turn up week-in week-out despite the abject performances being served up and the lack of anything approaching even mild entertainment. I can't work out if this is due to sheer embarrassment at the quality of the performances or just down right pig-headedness. I can only assume the latter as his post match interviews are masterclass in gaslighting and a complete insult to those of us who pay good money to attend the games. If he wants to continue a career in football management after this disaster then he's got a hell of a lot to learn with regards to managing things off the field as well as tactics on the field. I get that as a young manager he perhaps wants to position himself as a no-nonsense, hard taskmaster, but his complete lack of humility or self-reflection completely let him down. Any self respecting Board would have sacked him after the home defeat to Kelty in November, the fact he is still here nearly 6 months on is a damning indictment of those running the club and an utter dereliction of duty. Bartley and the Board are extremely lucky that Queens supporters are so passive. Supporters of any other full-time club in our current position would likely be subjecting the manager and the Board to a barrage of banners and chants during matches ('Bartley Out', 'Sack the Board'), fan protests outside the ground and potentially even boycotts (although perhaps you could argue that is happening silently anyway through falling attendances). With the exception of a few seconds of booing at full time and a few moans and groans on social media, Queens supporters are an apathetic bunch. Perhaps we should share some of the blame for not being more active or forceful in making our voices heard and trying to force change (and I include myself in this)? Like many, I just want this season to be over now to put me out of my misery. Hopefully we're still in League 1 at that point, if we are it will only be because results elsewhere will have helped us, I'm under no illusions - this team under this manager couldn't fight it's way out of a wet paper bag. From there, a complete re-build is a MUST this summer, a new Board, a new Manager and a complete overhaul of the playing squad. I'll certainly be holding off buying a season ticket until at the very least Bartley has gone. But despite everything, I still hold out hope that somehow and at some point better is to come - it's all we've got, right?