The Big Queen's Park FC Thread

[Velvet Donkey]

1 minute ago, Tangled web said:

The coach can only work with the tools that he has.

I agree with your post, but the management team have assembled the toolbox. The quality and experience of the Raith bench compared to ours is quite important.

[Dooflick]

22 minutes ago, Velvet Donkey said:

I agree with your post, but the management team have assembled the toolbox. The quality and experience of the Raith bench compared to ours is quite important.

You are right regarding the experience on the Raith bench. I go back to what I said about 4 to 5 weeks ago about an international midfielder who was available to sign for free, David Wotherson who went on to sign for Inverness. He scored 2 goals for them on Saturday. Did we try and sign him?

[Hampden Diehard]

That was as bad as I've felt after a game for a while and I couldn't bear to read the posts until today. I've been pleasantly surprised that there is more of a hint of positivity amongst the understandable tears and general frustration.

My main gripe with the game was that we left a man of a ten man team unmarked at the back post for the second. That's criminal.

I felt for both Veldman and Bannon in their interviews. You could see that they were absolutely gutted.

It'll be interesting to see what we do in the January window. I'm not up for ex-Premier jobbers but we desperately need a match winner but these guys are thin on the ground. Pointless to even think about it but I will;  last season's Murray would be the ideal man to convert us into top four material. But that won't be happening.

[It is our time to shine]

1 hour ago, Velvet Donkey said:

I agree with your post, but the management team have assembled the toolbox. The quality and experience of the Raith bench compared to ours is quite important.

I agree too.....change the tools in January 2024 or face a hellish ugly unforgiving relegation battle with " the current tools at his disposal" .......it he doesn't change the tools, he wont be around to pick up the pieces, That's not what I would want for the guy as Veldman seems like a good decent person but the data is screaming for change.

[Hampden Diehard]

∆∆ Relegation would set us back years.

[an86]

3 hours ago, Tangled web said:

The coach can only work with the tools that he has.

He’s not using them effectively, though. He made the same mistake on Saturday as he did at Stark’s Park, except worse, because they had the ten men this time. It’d be very difficult to argue against his decisions in these games seeing us four points worse off.
 

We’ll obviously never know for sure, but the balance of probability is that if you keep your strongest side on the park and you’re 2-1 up with four minutes left, even with ten men, it’s very, very unlikely that you lose the game. Similarly, if you’re 2-1 up in the 89th minute, with a man advantage, and keep your strongest side on the park, the overwhelming likelihood is that you win the game. Freak scenarios will occur, but these weren’t freak scenarios. They were self-inflicted lunacy. To fail to learn from the mistake at Stark’s Park is the greatest alarm bell of them all.
 

 

 

[Tangled web]

After the previous Raith game and our current run of results I get the added frustration but I observe winning teams in tight games making last minute substitutions week in week out. Often just to waste time or break up rhythm. I think in these days of squads and 5 subs that the starting eleven is unlikely to  be (should not be) the strongest eleven by the time you get to 80 minutes. If must blame something, blame the vision, blame the DOF. Blame our benefactor, blame the committee, blame the budget, blame the bench, blame our 'experienced players' blame the youth of today. Veldman did what coaches usually do. 

[an86]

6 minutes ago, Tangled web said:

If must blame something, blame the vision, blame the DOF. Blame our benefactor, blame the committee, blame the budget, blame the bench, blame our 'experienced players' blame the youth of today. Veldman did what coaches usually do. 

I’ve been blaming many of the above over various issues for months and years, but that doesn’t mean Veldman gets a free pass for mad subs. 

[Bring Your Own Socks]

Apologies if someone else put this up when it was fresh. Triple awards at any level are spectacular. Maybe she could give the lads a pre-match psych talk…
 

https://queensparkfc.co.uk/ellie-kane-win-potm-swpl2-three-times-in-a-row/

[EaglesandSpiders]

I think a good number of people here are missing the simple fact that we conceded 2 goals in the last ten minutes playing against a 10-men team after those substitutions. No ifs no buts. That is what it boils down to. That is how this match will be remembered. Unforgivable. 

Edited November 13, 2023 by EaglesandSpiders

[Bring Your Own Socks]

6 hours ago, Velvet Donkey said:

I agree with your post, but the management team have assembled the toolbox. The quality and experience of the Raith bench compared to ours is quite important.

I’ve been asking myself for a while if Veldman was involved in recruitment. He joined, or was announced, on June 17 and the signings started being announced on the 21st. Seems unlikely he had a good understanding but nevertheless if he accepted Beuker’s word then they’re both part of the problem. I get a strong sense though that Veldman’s starting to feel he’s been mugged.

[Bring Your Own Socks]

12 minutes ago, EaglesandSpiders said:

I think a good number of people here are missing the simple fact that we conceded 2 goals in the last ten minutes playing against a 10-men team after those substitutions. That is what it boils down to. That is the way this match will be remembered. Unforgivable. 

That and the pish effort in the entire first half. And a handful of poor misses on goal. Other than that though…

I was slightly gobsmacked when he actually pointed it out how it all fell apart in the last “7 or 8 minutes”. Either has tunnel vision or perhaps making the point to the blazers that we don’t have the squad to deal with these situations. But then, it was the same last season near the end.

[EaglesandSpiders]

1 minute ago, Bring Your Own Socks said:

That and the pish effort in the entire first half

100%. We looked like a sparring partner in the first half. Mind-bogglingly soft and toothless. I've watched friendly games with more teeth and willingness to score. 

[EaglesandSpiders]

So far, we've averaged one point per game. If we keep this up we'll finish the season with 36 points, which happens to be roughly the average points a team needs for the 8th spot, if you look at the last 4-5 seasons. But I think it's going to be really tight. It looks like we have a runaway winner in the league but the automatic relegation spot is still up for grabs. No team like Cove in the league this season.

[an86]

26 minutes ago, Bring Your Own Socks said:

Apologies if someone else put this up when it was fresh. Triple awards at any level are spectacular. Maybe she could give the lads a pre-match psych talk…
 

https://queensparkfc.co.uk/ellie-kane-win-potm-swpl2-three-times-in-a-row/

Another in the list of things we’re not getting right. We should be shouting from the rooftops about this team and they should be playing within our local area. An afterthought. All credit to the players and staff, though. They deserve so much better. 

[williebraveheart]

56 minutes ago, Bring Your Own Socks said:

Apologies if someone else put this up when it was fresh. Triple awards at any level are spectacular. Maybe she could give the lads a pre-match psych talk…
 

https://queensparkfc.co.uk/ellie-kane-win-potm-swpl2-three-times-in-a-row/

Maybe give her a chance against Thistle in the cup?

[an86]

1 hour ago, williebraveheart said:

Maybe give her a chance against Thistle in the cup?

Why would she want to make the step down? 

[Take Me Home Cathcart Road]

Is the general consensus amongst the fans, that none of our Academy boys are ready to challenge for 1st team football this season.

 

[EaglesandSpiders]

6 hours ago, Take Me Home Cathcart Road said:

Is the general consensus amongst the fans, that none of our Academy boys are ready to challenge for 1st team football this season.

 

As for me, I don't know many of the new youngsters to have an opinion but my answer is they should be ready to make that challenge as long as the manager who is responsible for their training and development gives them an opportunity to prove themselves at the right time, for the right amount of time, against the right opponent. So far, I have seen very little evidence of this approach. 

[Spider1975]

On 12/11/2023 at 14:20, pmonigatti said:

I even wonder if the substitutions are an easy target. Had Veldman kept McPherson and Dom Thomas on the pitch and the same result happens then he’d have been lambasted for not managing the game properly aswell.

 

It's a fair point and given the run of results since Arbroath, RV is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't; that said.....

The evidence as far as I can see is beginning to stack up; have said it before and will say it again, he's relatively inexperienced too and perhaps the sum total of a relatively inexperienced manager, (rather than coach) and a young, mainly inexperienced squad, is in reality, exactly equal to one point per game and an inability to defend effectively and score appropriately.

The substitutions last weekend are just the latest in what I think has been a list of questionable decisions by RV since the start of the season, not limited to:

1.  Late, questionable substitutions in winning positions vs Raith on two occasions;

2. Despite evidence pre-season that Reid was up to the job, (and potentially a better option that Tizzard/Fox), it's taken over a quarter of the season to give him a start;

3.  The constant tinkering of the CB pairings and for that matter the RB position

4. The very public lack of confidence in his CB options, leading to Thomson being played there out of position thus weakening midfield.  It could also be argued that Thomsons uncertainty in that position was partly responsible for the defeat at home to Dunfermline, (where RV blamed his defence for being too aggressive)

5.  Despite evidence that the left side was working vs Arbroath, the chopping and changing of the left side, with Robson then, not a guaranteed starter and Dom Thomas being constantly moved about the pitch.

6.  As mentioned previously the very public admonishing of Tizzard vs Airdie.  Full disclosure, I wasn't at that game, (watched it on TV) and whilst Tizzard was having a shocker up to the goal, I'm wondering exactly how much coaching/direction RV was giving prior to the goal/substitution, as from what I've seen so far, other than a bottle being hoofed vs Dunfermline, RV remains rather too passive on the touchline for someone who's supposed to be developing young players.

7. For someone who has been pro-active in making substitutions, RV's inability to understand how deep into the red-zone Longridge was and how immobile Bannon was at the last Thistle game was for me, a huge concern, especially as, at the time, Thistle were in the ascendancy. 

He seems like a decent bloke and I don't want to see anyone lose their job.  To give him his credit (and has already been mentioned), he at least, is fronting up whilst Beujker, Dempster & Haughey are MIA, any of whom could easily ease the pressure on him by stating exactly what the plan is; i.e. if development is the sole goal and if they feel this development won't be harmed by a dip into L1, then say so; if not and if the project is reliant upon maintaining the position in the Championship then they surely have to back RV in January.  

It's becoming clearer that the squad is maybe just a bit too young, a bit too inexperienced.  Unfortunately wedded to that it seems the senior leaders have maybe somewhat lost their effectiveness; RV obviously sees Ferrie as 2nd choice, Robson, (other than v Arbroath) has been way off it since his mate left for Dingwall, Fox can barely get a game (arguably third/fourth choice CB despite being 2nd choice forward) and whilst he provides a ton of effort and sound leadership I doubt whether Longridge would be a starter for most other teams in the League.  We also can't expect Dom Thomas to be doing everything either.

 

Edited November 14, 2023 by Spider1975