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The Queen of the South thread


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On the subject of Brownlee/Hooper I quite liked Brownlee early on but as time has gone by he has really struggled and has been a ball watcher on several occasions. I guess when you sign a player who was part of a defence that shipped c. 100 goals you get a player that is subconsciously probably low on confidence.

Hooper looks as good as Brownlee but as so often happens when you are a young local you are an easy player to leave out as the explanatory conversation is non confrontational.

The same can be said for young Jim Atkinson who I think has potential. I thought there was an ideal opportunity to play him in the Challenge Cup or early rounds of League Cup but he has been a permanent fixture on the bench. That was pretty harsh IMHO - he did well when he played last year and i dont think we would have been greatly inconvenienced if he had played a few early round matches ( we exited early on anyway).Thomson has been decent but we will probably lose Jim as he surely cant contemplate anoher year doing the warm up and hitting a few crosses at the pre match warm up.

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On the subject of Brownlee/Hooper I quite liked Brownlee early on but as time has gone by he has really struggled and has been a ball watcher on several occasions. I guess when you sign a player who was part of a defence that shipped c. 100 goals you get a player that is subconsciously probably low on confidence.

Hooper looks as good as Brownlee but as so often happens when you are a young local you are an easy player to leave out as the explanatory conversation is non confrontational.

The same can be said for young Jim Atkinson who I think has potential. I thought there was an ideal opportunity to play him in the Challenge Cup or early rounds of League Cup but he has been a permanent fixture on the bench. That was pretty harsh IMHO - he did well when he played last year and i dont think we would have been greatly inconvenienced if he had played a few early round matches ( we exited early on anyway).Thomson has been decent but we will probably lose Jim as he surely cant contemplate anoher year doing the warm up and hitting a few crosses at the pre match warm up.

I quite agree about Jim Atkinson. He showed in his appearances last season that he was more than capable of holding down a regular slot in the team if given the chance. I have no great problem with Thomson, he has earned a couple of deserved MoM awards, pulled off some great saves, of course interspersed with a few clangers which every keeper experiences from time to time. Is he any better than Atkinson though? They are of (fairly) similar age, and I would say, ability, yet Thomson was signed from a team that was relegated, conceding in excess of 100 goals in the process, which must make a young keeper already on the books question if he has a future here. We lost a handful of younger players during the close season and, Thomson and Marshall excepted, replaced them with older journeymen or players with a history of injury problems. We still have several young players, Atkinson, Pickard, Smith, etc, warming the bench, but if or when Tapping and Hilson get fit they will probably drop back out of the squad. I don't know the inside workings or feelings at Palmerston, and the young players may be happy to wait their chance but it would be a shame if they felt they had no future there and we ended up losing more young talent. Of course it may be that the Club is looking to cash-in on possible development fees if these young players decide to leave.

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I honestly believe that if players cant break through by the time they are 19/20 at the latest distress signals start to go off.

The reality is that in your late teens you are at your sharpest and energy levels are at their peak - there are exceptions but the tag youngster is a grossly over used term in football. In other sports you see world class performers in their teens or very early 20s so I dont buy this "inexperienced tag" - the danger is that it is another way of prolonging the agony and coldly perhaps the term " not good enough" would be a more honest assessment than inexperienced.

Aiden Smith is a player I quite like but he is not getting much game time - think how little time he would have had if Hillson had been fit?

Jim Atkinson as a goalie is a little different in that there is only one position for him to go for but not playing him in at least one of the Cups was a big slap in the face. That said i just wonder if Jim is an outfield player in disguise - his touch and control of the ball are "up there" with most of his outfield colleagues so perhaps another option?

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Surely Hutton will get a extension can,t believe Fowler has not made his mind up yet.Surely the Heff will be released surprised it has not been done yet.

wouldn't be to surprised if Hutts is being looked at by others also tho.
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Anyone else think Coogan loan was a bit of a waste? Fowler was saying that he might not be able to sign Kevin Macann until later in the window as the budget isn't there thought we had a decent cash flow atm.

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Anyone else think Coogan loan was a bit of a waste? Fowler was saying that he might not be able to sign Kevin Macann until later in the window as the budget isn't there thought we had a decent cash flow atm.

I quite agree about Coogans, surely you sign players on loan because you need them. I didn't really see enough of him to judge if he would have made a great difference to the team, so on the whole I would say a wasted exercise.

Hefferman will probably be on his way but hopefully Hutton can be tempted to stay. He has put a bit of bite into midfield and looks a bit fitter after struggling in his early games.

I can't see too many wholesale changes during the window though with Hilson and Tapping almost ready to return (though for how long?).

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I quite agree about Coogans, surely you sign players on loan because you need them. I didn't really see enough of him to judge if he would have made a great difference to the team, so on the whole I would say a wasted exercise.

Hefferman will probably be on his way but hopefully Hutton can be tempted to stay. He has put a bit of bite into midfield and looks a bit fitter after struggling in his early games.

I can't see too many wholesale changes during the window though with Hilson and Tapping almost ready to return (though for how long?).

Are Tapping and Hilson due back soon? What stages are they meant to be at, I hadn't heard?

I don't suppose there's much reason to assume that any Hilson return would be short lived, although it's obviously possible. With Tapping though, until he puts a run of games together, there will be doubt.

I really think and hope that they could make a big difference for us though. That play-off spot is attainable if we can discover consistent form.

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Are Tapping and Hilson due back soon? What stages are they meant to be at, I hadn't heard?I don't suppose there's much reason to assume that any Hilson return would be short lived, although it's obviously possible. With Tapping though, until he puts a run of games together, there will be doubt.I really think and hope that they could make a big difference for us though. That play-off spot is attainable if we can discover consistent form.

By the end of the month a think fowler said if we could keep both fit they would be like 2 new signings

Edited by gogs
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