Cowdenbeath v Queen of the South

[big al]

Over the 90 think we shaded it.

Ron you are right, higgins/gallagher can be a good pairing. Both very different players but the main thing they have in common is they are both good.

Knowing our luck gallaghers loan wont be able to be extended leaving us in real trouble come christmas. I dont like to slate players but from I have seen so far, none of sutherland, jurisic, johnstone, other higgins are good enough to keep us up. The only maybe is sutherland.

[Aberdeen Cowden]

Its very common to see even the best teams have everyone back at corners and it is a perfectly sensible tactic. It crowds the box and makes it much more difficult for people to get space and accurate headers on target plus allows you to double up against some opponents. It also usually commits more of the opposition players forward, meaning that if you recover the ball and have enough pace in your team, you can launch a counter attack against less defenders and hence improve your chance of scoring.

Remember a few seasons back Cowden were playing Peterhead who got a corner. Cowden left three players on the halfway line and Peterhead didn't know what to do. They took so many players back that they only had a couple in the box. Needless to say the corner was pointless.

[Cowden til i die]

There's no right or wrong way to defend a corner but when I coached a team I left three up for the very reason above. It created space in the box that would allow my keeper to come and command the box and three quick guys waiting for the quick release. It also takes your poor markers and defenders out the equation.

I don't really see the value in taking everyone back as theres no one to retain the ball should it break forward so the ball is more than likely coming back.

[Lawro]

There's no right or wrong way to defend a corner but when I coached a team I left three up for the very reason above. It created space in the box that would allow my keeper to come and command the box and three quick guys waiting for the quick release. It also takes your poor markers and defenders out the equation.

I don't really see the value in taking everyone back as theres no one to retain the ball should it break forward so the ball is more than likely coming back.

Every games different. Surely u base these decisions on the threat from the opposition. No threat- men left up park for attacking when the ball comes out. It all depends on how confident u r on dealing with their big men.

[PELE]

Excellent result. We may have lost to Hibs and Hearts, but we showed that we were starting to look a lot better and more likely to take points against the other teams in the league. We need to push on from this and go for the victory again (stop sitting back when we score).

[big al]

Every games different. Surely u base these decisions on the threat from the opposition. No threat- men left up park for attacking when the ball comes out. It all depends on how confident u r on dealing with their big men.

Correct.

As well as every game being different, circumstances during game should change the tactic aswell.

[Cowden til i die]

Or you can set up a strategy and work on that strategy to perfect it as much as possible. Let the opponents worry about us. We don't have time study opponents and devise a plan on how to defend set pieces.

[CowdenConvert]

Any highlights of this anywhere yet?

[Cowden316]

A vital win and good all round performance for Cowden yesterday.

Almost lost my voice by roaring the team to victory.

Well done to Jimmy and the players, especially given the fact we had a lot of injuries.

We all need to remain positive as we all know this is a competitive league. Look at the Livingston result today. Livingston are not that a bad team.

We are closing in on Hibs and if you think about it we are only 4 points from 5th place.

Onwards and Upwards.

Lets continue to roar Jimmy and his team to a 4th consecutive year in the Championship

[big al]

Or you can set up a strategy and work on that strategy to perfect it as much as possible. Let the opponents worry about us. We don't have time study opponents and devise a plan on how to defend set pieces.

Will give you an example. If gallagher is on then leave him up the park for a fast break. If he goes off injured and jurisic comes on then get him back for a corner

to save him from embarrassment.

[Cowden til i die]

Very true but that should be worked out. I'm not sure if we will see Jurassic again

[adopted beath]

Or you can set up a strategy and work on that strategy to perfect it as much as possible. Let the opponents worry about us. We don't have time study opponents and devise a plan on how to defend set pieces.

Completely agree with you here.We need to worry less about our opponents and concentrate more on playing well ourselves.When we go to one up front we end up almost hanging on.We surrender too much possession.Cowden Convert reckons we should go with the team that started on Saturday.Given the six players that were out on Saturday that wont happen but i wish the management had the same level of confidence he has.

[Rjc-1988]

Totally disagree with earlier comments suggesting that the formation makes little difference to the outcome of a match. Firstly if that was the case clubs could save themselves a lot of money by not employing expensive Management teams to deliberate on systems and team shape.

I strongly contend that the reason we couldn't pick a pass in he first half was because we had our two wide players deployed deep, Lyle playing in the "hole" but essentially drifting back into midfield and Gavin left on his own to fill "the headless chicken role" up front. Whenever we won the ball in midfield there were no forward options and we kept giving the ball away repeatedly and drifted further back as a consequence. I still cannot understand why Ian Russell is seen as a wide midfield player but I live in hope that I will eventually "see the light".

If we cast our minds back to Alan Johnston's tactics for a minute - 2 or 3 upfront, pressing the ball really high up the pitch, dominating possession and creating chances. We didn't play well every week but these tactics ensured that we gave ourselves the best possible chance of creating more chances than the opposition and in turn a high probability of winning most matches. Even when we played higher class opposition that season - hibs, Dundee United, Killie, Rangers and Partick we stuck to the same principles and in almost every match we left the ground feeling that we had given it our best shot.

I contrast that season to last year when the Manager wasted the first half of the season by deploying a succession of flawed formations and selections that put us in relegation trouble for a period which was ludicrous given the strength of the squad. We eventually squeezed into the Play Off spot but I would contend that we should have done better last season.

This year the league is really tough and there is no doubt that we have a horrendous injury list but the last few games have been very sore " on the eye" with a pattern of defensive cautious play that in my view is unjustified and ultimately will not bring success. If we had setup the team offensively on Saturday and played the same formation as in the second half we would have dominated and given ourselves a great chance of a win or a least a draw. Even in the event of a defeat we would have had to conclude that we were simply not good enough on the day.

I sincerely hope that our tactics don't continue to be the same as recent weeks no matter who the manager is - press the ball high up the pitch with the emphasis on attacking possession football and we will do ok and the matches will be watchable ..........................that first half was absolutely painful. The fact that it takes an eternity to retrieve the ball at Central Park when it goes out of play is another negative - if you score first you have a great chance of winning because the ball is seldom actually in play. Interesting to know how much time is lost there through a mixture of non existent ball boys, ball trapped in stock car tyres, Jimmy Nichol, refusal to use the extra balls that were sitting next to the home dug out with a padlock over the zip!!!!!!

[Hawk]

Totally disagree with earlier comments suggesting that the formation makes little difference to the outcome of a match. Firstly if that was the case clubs could save themselves a lot of money by not employing expensive Management teams to deliberate on systems and team shape.

I strongly contend that the reason we couldn't pick a pass in he first half was because we had our two wide players deployed deep, Lyle playing in the "hole" but essentially drifting back into midfield and Gavin left on his own to fill "the headless chicken role" up front. Whenever we won the ball in midfield there were no forward options and we kept giving the ball away repeatedly and drifted further back as a consequence. I still cannot understand why Ian Russell is seen as a wide midfield player but I live in hope that I will eventually "see the light".

If we cast our minds back to Alan Johnston's tactics for a minute - 2 or 3 upfront, pressing the ball really high up the pitch, dominating possession and creating chances. We didn't play well every week but these tactics ensured that we gave ourselves the best possible chance of creating more chances than the opposition and in turn a high probability of winning most matches. Even when we played higher class opposition that season - hibs, Dundee United, Killie, Rangers and Partick we stuck to the same principles and in almost every match we left the ground feeling that we had given it our best shot.

I contrast that season to last year when the Manager wasted the first half of the season by deploying a succession of flawed formations and selections that put us in relegation trouble for a period which was ludicrous given the strength of the squad. We eventually squeezed into the Play Off spot but I would contend that we should have done better last season.

This year the league is really tough and there is no doubt that we have a horrendous injury list but the last few games have been very sore " on the eye" with a pattern of defensive cautious play that in my view is unjustified and ultimately will not bring success. If we had setup the team offensively on Saturday and played the same formation as in the second half we would have dominated and given ourselves a great chance of a win or a least a draw. Even in the event of a defeat we would have had to conclude that we were simply not good enough on the day.

I sincerely hope that our tactics don't continue to be the same as recent weeks no matter who the manager is - press the ball high up the pitch with the emphasis on attacking possession football and we will do ok and the matches will be watchable ..........................that first half was absolutely painful. The fact that it takes an eternity to retrieve the ball at Central Park when it goes out of play is another negative - if you score first you have a great chance of winning because the ball is seldom actually in play. Interesting to know how much time is lost there through a mixture of non existent ball boys, ball trapped in stock car tyres, Jimmy Nichol, refusal to use the extra balls that were sitting next to the home dug out with a padlock over the zip!!!!!!

Excellent post but wasted on some.

[Cowden til i die]

The time the ball was out of play has been vastly over dramatised. Aside from when the ball goes up on the banking it takes no longer than say Dumbarton. Ball over the wall, ref calls for a new ball, someone kicks it poorly on, someone then passes it onto the player. Saying the ball going in a tyre takes up and length of time is hilarious.

[UsedToGoToCentralPark]

Any highlights of this anywhere yet?

There's some badly named highlights from a Queens supporter I think here:

http://youtu.be/-OwsWRBg374

[CowdenConvert]

There's some badly named highlights from a Queens supporter I think here:

Badly edited too. Makes it look like were were barely in the game.

[McGuigan1978]

He puts stuff like that up most weeks. Fair play to him for putting it up, but his constant use of travel footage must be aimed at a niche market.

[overthetop]

I for one enjoy his videos the travel element was more interesting than the game.

Mind you I was at the game so not sure why I watched again to suffer twice!

[Broony88]

Badly edited too. Makes it look like were were barely in the game.

Second half you crossed the halfway line in possession of the ball maybe twice. First half you were the better side but weren't exactly carving us open creating endless goal scoring opportunities. Didn't even show the Gordon banks esque save your keeper made.