The Queen of the South thread

[Guest Flash]

8 minutes ago, 19QOS19 said:

 

So the TL;DR version there is that you're happy to be relegated rather than roll the dice on a new manager?

 

I often wonder why we don’t have managers who stay in the job until they die. “There is nobody else”. Every. Single. Time.

[Nithsdale Wanderer]

1 hour ago, 19QOS19 said:

 

So the TL;DR version there is that you're happy to be relegated rather than roll the dice on a new manager?

 

Sorry, I don''t understand the beginning of your reply.

Never happy to be relegated.  Merely setting out my thoughts on the challenges any new Manager would face which would indeed be ' rolling the dice' as you put it.

[Nithsdale Wanderer]

53 minutes ago, Flash said:

I often wonder why we don’t have managers who stay in the job until they die. “There is nobody else”. Every. Single. Time.

There is always somebody else as I mentioned.

Whether they think it would be right for them to go for it is another matter.

Of course, there is no vacancy at present.

[Slipmat]

1 hour ago, Nithsdale Wanderer said:

When things aren't going the way people want them to, they lash out - I get that.  Especially, amongst the football fan group who are so less forgiving than any other sector of society !

There are parallels here to the criticism of highly qualified scientists who have advised during the Pandemic as many ordinary members of the Public seem to think they know better and reject the advice because they don't like it.

There is no doubt we are in a serious situation right now and as things stand are the most likely to be relegated.

There may well be a case for changing the Management team but would that have enough of  a positive impact in time ?

I suspect not. If a change was to be made it should have been before the Jan window opened.

Firstly, to allow any new incumbent the opportunity to assess the situation and bring in who he thought might improve things.  Secondly, to allow time for their way of doing things to filter through and be implemented - very rarely that happens right away although Dougie Imrie - sadly for us - seems to be the exception.  Yogi has found otherwise but may be getting there now.

So, any new Manager is stuck with the squad that currently exists and with very little time to turn things around and the prospect of relegation being added to their CV.  Not a very appealing opportunity. I think most would agree.

If we were to change, it's the same old suspects out there and no-one very appealing.

Of course, I don't think we should change but if we did the only person I would consider would be Jim McIntyre.

He is a very positive, upbeat person which a lot of people say AJ is not and plays good football.

For some reason though, which I have never understood, some supporters seem quite critical of him and wouldn't want him back.

In my opinion, we should carry on with AJ and SC and hope that we can start a positive run as we have done in the past although the next 3 games are critical - indeed they all are .

I do agree with you that a change should have been made prior to the January window rather than after, and I also thought McIntyre did a good job when he was here (although his reputation has since been tarnished after his disastrous spell at Dundee).

But, and i'm not having a pop at you here, I am curious to know what you have seen from AJ in the past couple of seasons that makes you feel that we should cut him some slack when you were so vocal about wanting Naysmith punted when Naysmith arguably had us in a better position than we are in now?

[19QOS19]

Sorry, I don''t understand the beginning of your reply.
Never happy to be relegated.  Merely setting out my thoughts on the challenges any new Manager would face which would indeed be ' rolling the dice' as you put it.

It's not an appealing job by any means but lets face it, it'll be Gibson who is next in line. I don't think it would be difficult for Hewitson to have a quiet word and ask if he fancies it.

I don't think anyone is ever happy to be relegated but you said in your first post that you don't want a change of manager which is basically accepting relegation. AJ won't turn this around. I don't know if Gibson would but I'd rather we take that chance than go down with no fight like we will under AJ.

[Greenacres]

Iain Wilson has been released from Dunfermline he is better than anything we have just now. 

If Cochrane leaves he would be a good replacement .

Somehow we have to try and get Cameron back from Killie he is not perfect but miles better than anything we have just now 

[Hawkeye the Gnu]

The Killie board dithered far too long last season when we were clearly struggling and everyone could see that a change of manager was obvious. They left it far too late, leaving the new man no time to work the transfer market and the rest, I'm afraid, is history.

Best of luck for the rest of the season, as from the outside looking in, you are going to need it.

[Slipmat]

5 minutes ago, Greenacres said:

Iain Wilson has been released from Dunfermline he is better than anything we have just now. 

If Cochrane leaves he would be a good replacement .

Somehow we have to try and get Cameron back from Killie he is not perfect but miles better than anything we have just now 

I like Wilson, but his fitness would be a major issue.  He's barely played this season and we really need someone who can hit the ground running.

[Manwithnoball]

7 minutes ago, Greenacres said:

Iain Wilson has been released from Dunfermline he is better than anything we have just now. 

If Cochrane leaves he would be a good replacement .

Somehow we have to try and get Cameron back from Killie he is not perfect but miles better than anything we have just now 

Wilson has played about 2 games in a year. Is he fit?

 

[the_palmy_pie]

49 minutes ago, Nithsdale Wanderer said:

There is always somebody else as I mentioned.

Whether they think it would be right for them to go for it is another matter.

Of course, there is no vacancy at present.

Bring back your mate Gary Naysmith. 

[Mustafa_sheet]

3 hours ago, Nithsdale Wanderer said:

When things aren't going the way people want them to, they lash out - I get that.  Especially, amongst the football fan group who are so less forgiving than any other sector of society !

There are parallels here to the criticism of highly qualified scientists who have advised during the Pandemic as many ordinary members of the Public seem to think they know better and reject the advice because they don't like it.

There is no doubt we are in a serious situation right now and as things stand are the most likely to be relegated.

There may well be a case for changing the Management team but would that have enough of  a positive impact in time ?

I suspect not. If a change was to be made it should have been before the Jan window opened.

Firstly, to allow any new incumbent the opportunity to assess the situation and bring in who he thought might improve things.  Secondly, to allow time for their way of doing things to filter through and be implemented - very rarely that happens right away although Dougie Imrie - sadly for us - seems to be the exception.  Yogi has found otherwise but may be getting there now.

So, any new Manager is stuck with the squad that currently exists and with very little time to turn things around and the prospect of relegation being added to their CV.  Not a very appealing opportunity. I think most would agree.

If we were to change, it's the same old suspects out there and no-one very appealing.

Of course, I don't think we should change but if we did the only person I would consider would be Jim McIntyre.

He is a very positive, upbeat person which a lot of people say AJ is not and plays good football.

For some reason though, which I have never understood, some supporters seem quite critical of him and wouldn't want him back.

In my opinion, we should carry on with AJ and SC and hope that we can start a positive run as we have done in the past although the next 3 games are critical - indeed they all are .

[lowland star]

Where do we go from here . 
i have sided with Johnston and given benefit of doubt but time has come for change . 
a lot of people have said we have lost our identity of a local club with local lads playing . 
i know this will not be popular but why not bring in Davy irons to help Wullie Gibson as I know they are friendly . 
Davy  had a good footballing pedigree and decent contacts and a local boy 

 

 

[the_palmy_pie]

10 minutes ago, lowland star said:

Where do we go from here . 
i have sided with Johnston and given benefit of doubt but time has come for change . 
a lot of people have said we have lost our identity of a local club with local lads playing . 
i know this will not be popular but why not bring in Davy irons to help Wullie Gibson as I know they are friendly . 
Davy  had a good footballing pedigree and decent contacts and a local boy 

 

 

I’d rather we brought in his daughter

[Otis Blue]

6 hours ago, Slipmat said:

We've failed to score in 7 of our last 13 league games.  We haven't had a shot on target in our last 3 home games.

^^^ This.

I don't know why folk put themselves forwards to be football manager, its a thankless task that always ends eventually in some sort of failure and I certainly couldn't do better.  But these statistics above are just indefensible.  To not have had a shot on target in three consecutive home games ..... and the BOD wonder where the support has gone.  It just beggars belief.

Whilst tactical nous, strategy etc is important, I always think that the main skills required of a manager are "man management" and "motivation".  Let's face it, professional footballers aren't the easiest set of employees to manage.  They nearly all have big egos, think they are the bees knees, some are big dafties and they are all seriously hacked off if they're not playing - they wouldn't be what they are if they didn't have some of those traits.  So you need a strong, positive and motivational character to manage them, cajole them and get them focused.  Every time I hear AJ's interviews, I always just feel depressed listening to it.  He certainly doesn't motivate me, so christ knows what his dressing room talks are like.  Now I'm not the biggest fan of the media/BBC's darling Dick The Bunnet Cambpell (for one example), but you can be damned sure that his players are fired up, feeling good and in positive mode when they take the field at 3 pm on a Saturday.

Sorry AJ, but we need a change and the sooner the better - we need to get our shit sorted quick for next season in L1 ...... or we'll be in L2 before we know it!

Edited January 30, 2022 by Otis Blue

[Manwithnoball]

My problem with Johnston is he tries to shift the blame to everyone but himself. Like yesterday he got everything wrong. Team selection was all over the place after a positive performance against ICT. He left us short in Dunfermline strongest part of the team in the middle of the park. Dorrans had the freedom of Palmerston. He had 2 weeks to plan for Dunfermline but chose to put his new signings in 2 days before and move multiple players about to accommodate.  Why not play Nditi at CB why not play Gibson on the RHS why not play Paton as he had done well in previous games. Roy is obviously not fancied by AJ so why play him. The boy from Middlesbrough hopefully can only get better as that was a terrible debut but in fairness AJ changed formation 3 times in the first half for someone who had 2 weeks to plan. I feel the club has left this to long and relegation is a formality as the man is clueless as and you see from his interviews it's everyone's fault bar his and SC. Why not get rid and see what someone else can do for the remaining games because I thought no one was playing for him on Saturday. 

[Mustafa_sheet]

2 hours ago, lowland star said:

Where do we go from here . 
i have sided with Johnston and given benefit of doubt but time has come for change . 
a lot of people have said we have lost our identity of a local club with local lads playing . 
i know this will not be popular but why not bring in Davy irons to help Wullie Gibson as I know they are friendly . 
Davy  had a good footballing pedigree and decent contacts and a local boy 

 

 

With Davy being a full time police officer I doubt he could spare the time needed to turn that rabble of a squad around!!

[19QOS19]

My problem with Johnston is he tries to shift the blame to everyone but himself. Like yesterday he got everything wrong. Team selection was all over the place after a positive performance against ICT. He left us short in Dunfermline strongest part of the team in the middle of the park. Dorrans had the freedom of Palmerston. He had 2 weeks to plan for Dunfermline but chose to put his new signings in 2 days before and move multiple players about to accommodate.  Why not play Nditi at CB why not play Gibson on the RHS why not play Paton as he had done well in previous games. Roy is obviously not fancied by AJ so why play him. The boy from Middlesbrough hopefully can only get better as that was a terrible debut but in fairness AJ changed formation 3 times in the first half for someone who had 2 weeks to plan. I feel the club has left this to long and relegation is a formality as the man is clueless as and you see from his interviews it's everyone's fault bar his and SC. Why not get rid and see what someone else can do for the remaining games because I thought no one was playing for him on Saturday. 

On team selection - it's interesting (though not surprising given it was similar last season) that we've only had the same starting 11 for a maximum of 3 (league) games in a row this season (2 separate occasions). Given our squad size that's pretty impressive. You'd expect to be able to know who's starting week to week given we don't have much of a choice. But to me it screams AJ STILL hasn't a clue what his best starting 11 is.

It seems every season now we hear "It's almost a brand new squad, we need to give them time to gel". How in the name of christ do they gel if it's chopped and changed every weekend?!

[Fae_the_'briggs]

26 minutes ago, Mustafa_sheet said:

With Davy being a full time police officer I doubt he could spare the time needed to turn that rabble of a squad around!!

I wouldn't want him or his nephew Airhead anywhere near Palmerston. 

[Slipmat]

3 hours ago, lowland star said:

Where do we go from here . 
i have sided with Johnston and given benefit of doubt but time has come for change . 
a lot of people have said we have lost our identity of a local club with local lads playing . 
i know this will not be popular but why not bring in Davy irons to help Wullie Gibson as I know they are friendly . 
Davy  had a good footballing pedigree and decent contacts and a local boy 

 

 

Our new dugouts may be more spacious, but they still don't have enough capacity to accommodate Davie Irons' head.

Edited January 30, 2022 by Slipmat

[Greenacres]

10 hours ago, Fae_the_'briggs said:

I wouldn't want him or his nephew Airhead anywhere near Palmerston. 

Would not want Irons but Muirhead is is exactly the type of defender we need easily better than anything we have just now no surprise Ayr have started to pick up results with him back in the team .

AJ now saying we might have to bring a couple of new signing in our squad is packed with players who don't have the experience or quality for the Championship.

Quality over quantity think AJ has got it round the wrong way .