The Queen of the South thread

[Dumb yatt]

12 hours ago, Quentin Taranbino said:

We (Stirling) have been fan owned for 14 years now and have barely left the bottom league in that time.

It saved the club at the time as we had a an ageing chairman and alot of debt that had to be written off and nobody interested in taking over the club.

It's the right path to go down if you are bleeding money and need to save the club and get some stability but the trade off is you are unlikely to have much on field success.

If a serious offer to take over the club now from a private investor was on the table and the due diligence was done, I think most Stirling fans would vote for it. Fan ownership saved us, but we need real investment if we are to ever properly grow.

I’m not sure your version is correct.

[bod]

1 hour ago, HighlandQueen said:

It’s great we can always rely on you to find a negative slant! New Board and new beginnings after 7 years of decline. It’s an opportunity. Be positive! 

Aye whatever. My stance on Bartley has never altered from day one, it's only lately you and others have stopped singing his praises.

Sure you'll have lots of "acquaintances" who'll look to come in and take the club forward.

[Greenacres]

Before any new board we must stay in League 1.

Bartley saying we have had the worse injury list in the League hence our low position The news of the board  leaving did not leave much time for Bartley but as I thought he spoke very well you almost thought he was a good manager .

What worrys me is we definitely have Bartley till the end of the season it is as if he does not realise how serious our situation is .We are somehow going to stay  full time next season but with huge  cuts.

This shows what a arse Bartley has made of this he has been  working with a Championship budget yet somehow has signed a very poor squad that will struggle to keep us on League 1 

 

 

[FyldeCoastDoonhamer]

I’m grateful to the outgoing board for lots of positives such as the all weather pitch and the arena which have probably kept the club sustainable and full-time on the playing side. Can’t really argue with their managerial choices although some haven’t worked out. Equally I can’t credit how little has visibly been spent on the upkeep of the ground in recent times. 
On the less positive side the reticence to allow potential new investors to become involved is reminiscent of the old Harkness school of management so maybe this is just an opportunity to move forward. Would be nice to see a supporters rep incorporated onto the new board. 
And yes, staying in Division One is also something of a priority! 

[QoS99]

11 minutes ago, Greenacres said:

Before any new board we must stay in League 1.

Bartley saying we have had the worse injury list in the League hence our low position The news of the board  leaving did not leave much time for Bartley but as I thought he spoke very well you almost thought he was a good manager .

What worrys me is we definitely have Bartley till the end of the season it is as if he does not realise how serious our situation is .We are somehow going to stay  full time next season but with huge  cuts.

This shows what a arse Bartley has made of this he has been  working with a Championship budget yet somehow has signed a very poor squad that will struggle to keep us on League 1 

 

 

Not a chance we have a “Championship budget” 

[FyldeCoastDoonhamer]

One approach which really hasn’t worked is the one year contract mentality meaning we’ve so little continuity from one year to the next, especially when the manager is working with a low end full-time budget. I’m not sure the squad this year is anywhere near as bad as the league position suggests, but no, not a ‘championship squad’ either. 

[Biblemaster]

12 hours ago, Slipmat said:

...and how many would want to become directors?

Hands up everyone on this forum who will be putting themselves forward?

[vikingTON]

8 minutes ago, QoS99 said:

Not a chance we have a “Championship budget” 

How else were you signing players from Championship clubs then? 

[19QOS19]

9 minutes ago, FyldeCoastDoonhamer said:

One approach which really hasn’t worked is the one year contract mentality meaning we’ve so little continuity from one year to the next, especially when the manager is working with a low end full-time budget. I’m not sure the squad this year is anywhere near as bad as the league position suggests, but no, not a ‘championship squad’ either. 

I'd argue the 2 year approach is just as damaging. John Baird, Allan Johnston, Jake Hutchinson, Iain Wilson*, Marvin Bartley et al. I've definitely missed a few. The reality is we need a year to see if a player is worth a 2 year deal but by then they'll be off if they are worthy of one. To give the BoD some credit they clearly gave Bartley the opportunity to build something over two years but as we've seen, he's clearly incapable of doing that and we're stuck with him and some of his duds as a result. 

 

* Unless Morton paid all his wages while on loan but I doubt they did. 

[HighlandQueen]

48 minutes ago, bod said:

Aye whatever. My stance on Bartley has never altered from day one, it's only lately you and others have stopped singing his praises.

Sure you'll have lots of "acquaintances" who'll look to come in and take the club forward.

You got any constructive ideas then. Because I have…

[QoS99]

38 minutes ago, virginton said:

How else were you signing players from Championship clubs then? 

We could afford to offer a decent enough deal to one or two players, but I could guarantee you across the whole squad we have no where near close to a Championship budget. Not really that difficult to understand.

[Otis Blue]

Well, interesting developments to say the least.  Some initial thoughts:

Shame to see the departure of the Blount family from the BOD - others can correct me if I'm wrong here but I think Norman did a lot to help stabilise the club after the disastrous Harkness years, work that Mark helped to continue.

As others have said, some nervousness about what will follow, but overall change was needed as the club is in serious decline.

I just hope that they have a new BOD lined up with positive ideas/input to follow on.  My biggest worry is that all of the problems were "just too difficult to resolve" for the current BOD and they have walked away leaving others to pick up the pieces.  Hopefully, that's not the case and I'm doing the existing BOD a mis-service there.

The club statement said that the club was in a "healthy financial position" which is good to hear - although, I'm somewhat wary of that statement given some of the views aired previously on this thread.

As others have said, it strongly implies that Bartley will now be here to at least the end of the season - so the current BOD have bottled making a decision on this key point.  I just hope to hell that it doesn't come back to bite us and we end up in L2 via the relegation playoffs in May.  Like most on here I really wanted Bartley to succeed and thought it was a refreshingly different appointment to our norm, but sadly its not working and he's clearly not someone who has humility as a strong point and doesn't appear to like or listen to contrary advice.

[vikingTON]

44 minutes ago, QoS99 said:

We could afford to offer a decent enough deal to one or two players, but I could guarantee you across the whole squad we have no where near close to a Championship budget. Not really that difficult to understand.

You could provide no such credible guarantee without knowing the budget at Morton, or Airdrie, or Arbroath.

[Mulberryblue]

1 hour ago, Greenacres said:

Before any new board we must stay in League 1.

Bartley saying we have had the worse injury list in the League hence our low position The news of the board  leaving did not leave much time for Bartley but as I thought he spoke very well you almost thought he was a good manager .

What worrys me is we definitely have Bartley till the end of the season it is as if he does not realise how serious our situation is .We are somehow going to stay  full time next season but with huge  cuts.

This shows what a arse Bartley has made of this he has been  working with a Championship budget yet somehow has signed a very poor squad that will struggle to keep us on League 1 

 

 

Championship budget?

[QoS99]

4 minutes ago, virginton said:

You could provide no such credible guarantee without knowing the budget at Morton, or Airdrie, or Arbroath.

 I know for a fact we tried signing a player under Gibson while in League One and we offered him £350 basic wage. A few weeks later he signs for Arbroath on a part-time contract on quite a bit more money. 

Are you honestly trying to suggest that we spend similar to Morton/Arbroath/ Airdrie regarding playing budget across a whole squad?

[Slipmat]

Last night my thinking was that the new board must have been in place and just awaiting ratification and approval or had at least been sounded out.

Worryingly it looks like that isn't the case after all and no-one is lined up:

Queen of the South directors set to step down - BBC News

I'm pleased that Billy isn't keen on following up on foreign interest.  If a gulf state trust fund came to us, it would be our luck to find out that it was from Yemen!

Edited February 29 by Slipmat

[Monkey Tennis]

9 hours ago, HighlandQueen said:

Not sure. Obviously need to do due diligence but I wouldn’t rule anyone out if they have vision, a strategy, business competence, deep pockets and integrity. Just being local hasn’t progressed this club in 25 years. 

In that time frame, the club made tremendous progress which was sustained for quite a while.  It's daft to pretend otherwise.

Of course I wouldn't object to excellent types coming from further afield.

However, I'd really wonder what the appeal was.  Nobody is going to make money by ploughing some into Queens unless looking to do a property deal.  I'd also think a Labour of love is less likely without an existing bond.  

[vikingTON]

7 hours ago, QoS99 said:

 I know for a fact we tried signing a player under Gibson while in League One and we offered him £350 basic wage. A few weeks later he signs for Arbroath on a part-time contract on quite a bit more money. 

Are you honestly trying to suggest that we spend similar to Morton/Arbroath/ Airdrie regarding playing budget across a whole squad?

I know for a fact that a Championship club tried signing Gavin Reilly and Iain Wilson and put a contract on the table. A few weeks later, they sign for a full-time League One club on better terms. It's funny how these things work, isn't it?

I don't recall your fans or club making any such complaints about a comparatively paltry squad and budget at the time. Mewling about it just because the investments that you did make all turned into disasters does magically wipe them off the record. 

[Kunter]

10 hours ago, Greenacres said:

Before any new board we must stay in League 1.

Bartley saying we have had the worse injury list in the League hence our low position The news of the board  leaving did not leave much time for Bartley but as I thought he spoke very well you almost thought he was a good manager .

What worrys me is we definitely have Bartley till the end of the season it is as if he does not realise how serious our situation is .We are somehow going to stay  full time next season but with huge  cuts.

This shows what a arse Bartley has made of this he has been  working with a Championship budget yet somehow has signed a very poor squad that will struggle to keep us on League 1 

 

 

The squad was never built on a championship budget, that's why we signed 90% youth because they come cheap and if they come good you can sell them on.  

It's clear the idea was throw one experienced player in every position and surround them with young hopefuls to learn and hopefully develop. 

I don't believe anyone thought for one second this was a seriously good team well capable of a challenge.  Maybe a hope of a top 4 but it was always a work in progress from the start. 

A team full of young players just doesn't work.  Look at Chelsea.  They're fans are fed up with the inconsistenty and calling for the managers head. It's just a recipe for disaster in terms of the quest for instant success.  

 

[QoS99]

56 minutes ago, virginton said:

I know for a fact that a Championship club tried signing Gavin Reilly and Iain Wilson and put a contract on the table. A few weeks later, they sign for a full-time League One club on better terms. It's funny how these things work, isn't it?

I don't recall your fans or club making any such complaints about a comparatively paltry squad and budget at the time. Mewling about it just because the investments that you did make all turned into disasters does magically wipe them off the record. 

Yep, that’s why we were signing the likes of Rico Quitongo and Dave McKay and you were signing Liam Grimshaw and Alan Power. Yeah makes sense that our budgets are the same!