The Queen of the South thread

[19QOS19]

Just now, Skyline Drifter said:

"off field antics"? I'm almost afraid to ask. Unless we're talking about the time he had a beer after being subbed at Nithsdale Wanderers in a low key reserve game. In which case that's being blown out of all proportion.

Doesn't exactly scream professionalism though, does it? 

[Doonhamer19]

4 minutes ago, 19QOS19 said:

I'm hoping McKenna is one of the first out the door tbh

 

3 minutes ago, Distant Doonhamer said:

I'll be frankly astonished if 2 performances in what were pretty meaningless fixtures he "did fine" were enough for Bartley to offer McKenna a contract

McKenna is the one I'm least bothered about on my list and as I said I don't care if he goes. My main point was that the idea we can can lose everyone in the squad and replace them all with better players is stupid. It hasn't worked for the past 4 years and there's no reason to suggest it would work this year. There aren't enough good footballers who want to come to Queens to replace them all, and those that do will want higher wages than those we currently have. I imagine the reason we have so many young players is because they get paid less.

[Monkey Tennis]

7 minutes ago, Distant Doonhamer said:

I'll be frankly astonished if 2 performances in what were pretty meaningless fixtures where he "did fine" were enough for Bartley to offer McKenna a contract.

I thought he was poor at times yesterday to be honest.

Much too passive on a few occasions.

[Monkey Tennis]

1 hour ago, QOSQOS said:

We only had 5 points after 6 games and there were some looking at the other end of the table.

That really was a dreadful start for a full-time side apparently harbouring title ambitions.

We never properly recovered from it. 

Even an indifferent start would have allowed us to at least have realistic hopes of the play-offs as the season unfolded.

Surely, next time round can't start as badly.

[Slipmat]

1 hour ago, Doonhamer19 said:

Contracted for next year:

Reilly - although likely to be terminated??

 

I know he was crap and it would be in our best interests to get him off the payroll, but that's a bit extreme tbf.

[HighlandQueen]

36 minutes ago, 19QOS19 said:

Doesn't exactly scream professionalism though, does it? 

One of the worst defenders I’ve ever seen at Palmerston. Terrible positional sense, constantly caught wrong side, the away defeat at Montrose and his pathetic defending on top of the shambles away at Falkirk were enough to bin him for me. 

[HighlandQueen]

34 minutes ago, Doonhamer19 said:

 

McKenna is the one I'm least bothered about on my list and as I said I don't care if he goes. My main point was that the idea we can can lose everyone in the squad and replace them all with better players is stupid. It hasn't worked for the past 4 years and there's no reason to suggest it would work this year. There aren't enough good footballers who want to come to Queens to replace them all, and those that do will want higher wages than those we currently have. I imagine the reason we have so many young players is because they get paid less.

Disagree. We need to operate with a smaller better squad. I’ve got to believe that MB can attract better than a lot of that deadwood. He alluded to the fact that agents were offering players as players wanted to play for his team and by implication would want to work with and improve under his coaching. We also have many better scouting leads and connections now. WG no one was attracted to working with him and the recruitment seemed to scream paucity of contacts. 

[Skyline Drifter]

52 minutes ago, 19QOS19 said:

Doesn't exactly scream professionalism though, does it? 

It doesn't exactly scream "off field antics", burn him at the stake either.

I don't think any of the current group do but it wasn't unusual just a few short years ago for a few players to go into the downstairs bar at the ground post match for a quick beer and talk with friends / supporters. I'm not seeing any massive breach of discipline in a player grabbing a quick beer after playing a game. Frankly I couldn't care less about it. McKenna should be offered a new contract or not offered one based on the manager's assessment of his ability, his cost within budget and his ability to replace him with better. Whether he had a beer in Sanquhar once shouldn't be a factor.

[19QOS19]

1 hour ago, Doonhamer19 said:

 

McKenna is the one I'm least bothered about on my list and as I said I don't care if he goes. My main point was that the idea we can can lose everyone in the squad and replace them all with better players is stupid. It hasn't worked for the past 4 years and there's no reason to suggest it would work this year. There aren't enough good footballers who want to come to Queens to replace them all, and those that do will want higher wages than those we currently have. I imagine the reason we have so many young players is because they get paid less.

I agree we aren't in a luxury position whereby we can improve on every single poor player but I do think McKenna is one (and a position) we absolutely should be able to do better. 

 

1 hour ago, Monkey Tennis said:

Surely, next time round can't start as badly.

The win yesterday has ended MB first spell with us averaging 1.86pts per game. A return like that next season would give us 67pts. That would have been enough for joint 2nd this year so you have to imagine it'll be similar next season as well. It counts for nothing at this point but it does give me optimism that we should be better placed this time next season. 

 

16 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

It doesn't exactly scream "off field antics", burn him at the stake either.

I don't think any of the current group do but it wasn't unusual just a few short years ago for a few players to go into the downstairs bar at the ground post match for a quick beer and talk with friends / supporters. I'm not seeing any massive breach of discipline in a player grabbing a quick beer after playing a game. Frankly I couldn't care less about it. McKenna should be offered a new contract or not offered one based on the manager's assessment of his ability, his cost within budget and his ability to replace him with better. Whether he had a beer in Sanquhar once shouldn't be a factor.

Off field professionalism then. There's a big difference between going to the club after the match and standing necking a beer at the side of the park after being substituted. It's a pointless arguement to get into as I won't change my mind that it's not a great example a first teamer should be setting for younger players. He's also made comments in front of younger players which I don't think are very helpful either. I agree his performances should be the biggest factor of whether he is re-signed though. I don't think that have merited a contract either though. 

[Monkey Tennis]

24 minutes ago, 19QOS19 said:

The win yesterday has ended MB first spell with us averaging 1.86pts per game. A return like that next season would give us 67pts. That would have been enough for joint 2nd this year so you have to imagine it'll be similar next season as well. It counts for nothing at this point but it does give me optimism that we should be better placed this time next season. 

Yes, and his start was fairly hesitant.

In the last quarter, however, we averaged over 2 points a game, the type of form that allows a title challenge.  The hope has to be that some of that can be replicated from the outset next time.

[Biblemaster]

Listened to an interview with Davie Martindale on "sacked in the morning" on BBC Sounds. He says he does his recruitment using "Wise Count?" to look for players who look like they'd fit in and will then see what contacts he has to find out more. Given Marvin was his assistant I'm assuming he'll also be looking at this, although Martindale does say he's looking at English League 2 and non-league for his SPL budget so I'm not sure if it will go far enough down the pyramid to find players in our budget?

[Skyline Drifter]

8 minutes ago, Biblemaster said:

Listened to an interview with Davie Martindale on "sacked in the morning" on BBC Sounds. He says he does his recruitment using "Wise Count?" to look for players who look like they'd fit in and will then see what contacts he has to find out more. Given Marvin was his assistant I'm assuming he'll also be looking at this, although Martindale does say he's looking at English League 2 and non-league for his SPL budget so I'm not sure if it will go far enough down the pyramid to find players in our budget?

Wyscout

[DG.Roma]

5 minutes ago, Biblemaster said:

"Wise Count?"

WyScout. It's used extensively by loads of coaches and scouts for player stats and perfornance analytics. I've known it to be used from Serie A to the Lowland League.

I enjoyed that Podcast episode, it was a good listen. Can't help but notice things aren't going quite so well for Martindale since Bartley left though, hopefully a good sign for Queens.

[queenslad]

McKechnie is a player I would keep. He has come on loads since starting to hold down a regular place in the team. defenders are scared of him in not knowing if he will go inside or out, take them on and can deliver a decent cross. He4 has pace too. Out wide is his place to play not through the middle and lumping high balls to him as happened in last 20mins yesterday after Irving went off. He's young too and has time to develop

[Biblemaster]

3 hours ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Wyscout

 

3 hours ago, DG.Roma said:

WyScout. It's used extensively by loads of coaches and scouts for player stats and perfornance analytics. I've known it to be used from Serie A to the Lowland League.

I enjoyed that Podcast episode, it was a good listen. Can't help but notice things aren't going quite so well for Martindale since Bartley left though, hopefully a good sign for Queens.

Thanks, knew someone on here would know!  Given that we'd probably be looking at players in The Conference or lower, does it go that far?

[Skyline Drifter]

42 minutes ago, Biblemaster said:

 

Thanks, knew someone on here would know!  Given that we'd probably be looking at players in The Conference or lower, does it go that far?

Not a clue, never seen it. @RandomGuy. will know though. He uses it and regularly posts analysis on here taken direct from it.

[itzdrk]

Wyscout will just get you the SPFL.  They do have Highland/Lowland & East/South of Scotland but it's from 2018 so useless.  

[RandomGuy.]

4 hours ago, Biblemaster said:

 

Thanks, knew someone on here would know!  Given that we'd probably be looking at players in The Conference or lower, does it go that far?

 

3 hours ago, itzdrk said:

Wyscout will just get you the SPFL.  They do have Highland/Lowland & East/South of Scotland but it's from 2018 so useless.  

This.

Even its League Two data can be either slow to appear or just missing.

From memory England is covered well at National League North/South level but i dont think ive ever even checked below that.

[Monkey Tennis]

On 07/05/2023 at 01:49, 19QOS19 said:

Now on to my favourite part of the football season. Absolutely love this time when signings are coming in/re-signing (Probably because it's better than watching them...). 

That really is quite an indictment of what it is to follow Queens these days.

[Otis Blue]

Really good interviews post Kelty there from Marvin and Ruari.

Sounds as though Marvin is already off and running with his pre-season and recruitment plans - he's very clear and confident, just what you want to hear.  Like what he says about players coming into pre-season on 12th June without the required fitness levels and that he'll take that extra week's training directly with them, and it'll be tough for seven days straight.  I'm also sure he's been talking to agents and players since he joined in January about what he wants for next season.  I'm really feeling positive about this close-season period for a change.

Paton says lots of nice things about the club as you'd expect, but at the same time he'll be keeping his cards close to his chest till he sees what offers he has from elsewhere.  As Marvin says, he knows that some players will move on but at the same time he has back-up plans for such eventualities and I'm sure Paton is a case in point.

In Marvin we trust!