🕸🕷Spiders vs Accies

[bridgeofweirdo]

Which QP team will show up for this ?. Will O.C. prove himself further and lift the team from this badly timed slump?. The fans deserve a positive result and the team a confidence boost going into the last crucial games. 

C'mon Queens -----please! (my mental health is on the line here)

[Crawford]

Role up sports fans, this will truly be a spectacle to behold.

[EaglesandSpiders]

We need Mal & Savoury back in form. If they are not showing any signs of improvement and dedication in training, off to the bench with them. I think Jarrett & Davidson will start in midfield with Thompson. I wouldn't be surprised if Coyle decides to go with a 4-3-3 with Williamson/Longridge, Shields and Thomas up front. McPake & Henderson have shown that they are not cut out for the final run. We've got too many loanees with zero interest in the future of this club. 

[Derry Alli]

I want to say it's a shame about McPake as he can clearly be a terrific wee player but all too often with boys from his type of background it's their own application that costs them.

[Hampden Diehard]

We were swept aside in the second half against Thistle to a disturbing extent and, worryingly, I don't think they were that great.

Savoury and Thomas have died a death and playing with Shields up front on his own simply isn't working.

I can see why OC would persevere with what has been outstanding for all but the last five games this season, but I would be tempted to change it. Two up, give Jarrett a start and take it to them.

Accies will be really up for it and we can't afford to be as lacklustre as we have been this month. 

[Hampden Diehard]

6 minutes ago, Derry Alli said:

I want to say it's a shame about McPake as he can clearly be a terrific wee player but all too often with boys from his type of background it's their own application that costs them.

There's a swagger about the guy that sometimes works very well, especially when the team are doing well, but we're struggling at the moment.

[Stuntiethumper]

What confuses me with McPake is why we play him on the left when he is clearly a heavily right footed player. By now every defender in the league knows he is going to cut in rather than go to the touchline. He's been found out but hasn't developed an answer so in my view it is pointless playing him on the left.  I'd be inclined to play Dom on the left again and see whay McPake can do on the right. If he doesn't impress then it we can let him move on at the end of the season.

I am not too worried about formation changes for this game. Hamilton will be leggy after having the joy of having Dougie Imrie's Morton trying to kick them off the park tonight. So I would expect us to have a bit more room to play on Friday.  The question in my mind is whether the midfield can play a good final ball to Shields, who has been starved of decent service.

Whatever happens, the boys will need to bring their A game as Hamilton have improved since January and are fighting for survival. They will not roll over.

[FuzzyBear]

1 hour ago, Stuntiethumper said:

What confuses me with McPake is why we play him on the left when he is clearly a heavily right footed player. By now every defender in the league knows he is going to cut in rather than go to the touchline. He's been found out but hasn't developed an answer so in my view it is pointless playing him on the left.  I'd be inclined to play Dom on the left again and see whay McPake can do on the right. If he doesn't impress then it we can let him move on at the end of the season.

I am not too worried about formation changes for this game. Hamilton will be leggy after having the joy of having Dougie Imrie's Morton trying to kick them off the park tonight. So I would expect us to have a bit more room to play on Friday.  The question in my mind is whether the midfield can play a good final ball to Shields, who has been starved of decent service.

Whatever happens, the boys will need to bring their A game as Hamilton have improved since January and are fighting for survival. They will not roll over.

Accies improved for a short time but we have been very poor for most of  the last 6 weeks and the  last 2 Saturday's have been woeful. Dundee away is probably our worst performance since Auchinleck. 

[Bring Your Own Socks]

3 hours ago, Stuntiethumper said:

What confuses me with McPake is why we play him on the left when he is clearly a heavily right footed player. By now every defender in the league knows he is going to cut in rather than go to the touchline. He's been found out but hasn't developed an answer so in my view it is pointless playing him on the left.  I'd be inclined to play Dom on the left again and see whay McPake can do on the right. If he doesn't impress then it we can let him move on at the end of the season.

I am not too worried about formation changes for this game. Hamilton will be leggy after having the joy of having Dougie Imrie's Morton trying to kick them off the park tonight. So I would expect us to have a bit more room to play on Friday.  The question in my mind is whether the midfield can play a good final ball to Shields, who has been starved of decent service.

Whatever happens, the boys will need to bring their A game as Hamilton have improved since January and are fighting for survival. They will not roll over.

The trendy name is Inverted Winger, where a lefty plays on the right wing and vice-versa. Dom started the season on the left but was switched when McPake, clearly unhappy, wanted on the left. The theory is that rather than hitting the back line, like Healy does, they move inside and take a shot at goal with their stronger foot. Simon Murray had some success from this tactic picking up the scraps and spills. But both Dom and McPake end up hitting it too high, far more than on target. The guy who goes to the line has less chance of getting goals. This was very important for McPake. I remember him in the opening game at Inverness, on the right, constantly throwing huffs whenever he lost position because he couldn’t outpace the defender. Dribbling inside plays to his strengths.

But It’s also very easy for a defender to channel an inverted winger into the busier midfield where it’s more difficult to get a shot off, and when they do it’s often over hit as they are off balance. Dom particularly has suffered from this, compared to the first half of the season, as his opponents have learned his favourite move. It was interesting to see him put in a couple of dangerous balls with his right foot against Thistle.

McPake has barely got close all season. Henderson plays exactly the same way as McPake, as did Connor Smith last year. I often wonder how much we are compromised by playing these prima donnas in a way their parent club wants them to play.

Wing men hitting the line and crossing didn’t suit Murray’s style, as we saw last season. He’s not physically strong enough for bouncing off big defenders. His strength is on the ground. But maybe Shields would do better with a decent cross ball. Which Healy can do.

Edited April 11, 2023 by Bring Your Own Socks

[EaglesandSpiders]

53 minutes ago, Bring Your Own Socks said:

The trendy name is Inverted Winger, where a lefty plays on the right wing and vice-versa. The theory is that rather than hitting the back line, they move inside and take a shot at goal with their stronger foot.

Exactly. Too many teams are doing the same thing and it's very easy to defend. Also you need players that can actually hit the target for it to work. Beşiktaş really milked this when they played Ryan Babel on the left and Ricardo Quaresma on the right. They are still using it with Cenk Tosun on the left and Rachid Ghezzal/Nathan Redmond on the right but not as efficiently as before. And the thing is you don't actually have to have both your wingers inverted. If you do, the only players who end up crossing into the box are your full backs, who are rarely on target. And when the tactic isn't working you can always de-invert your wingers ask them to put more crosses into the box. I've never seen Coyle do this. Dom always finishes the game where he starts and it's getting a bit annoying to see this happen (or not happen). 

[badgerthewitness]

Can I pay at the gate or do I have to purchase tickets in advance?

[Bring Your Own Socks]

2 minutes ago, badgerthewitness said:

Can I pay at the gate or do I have to purchase tickets in advance?

Officially they only advertise tickets but they seem to have cash (not sure about card) when it suits them. Especially at games where the crowd will be modest. Might be best to phone the club on Friday when they've had a look at ticket sales. Numbers in here

[bridgeofweirdo]

The Dom/Marcel combo which was fruitful before seems to have dried up with Dom cutting inside while Marcel runs into space with no service...

Can we perhaps try that again?

[an86]

Big game. Don’t win it, with Ayr away, Morton away and Dundee home to come, and all of a sudden the Jaws theme start to play. One more win should avert any playoff disaster, but it has to come here if we’re going to breathe easy. 

[QPoriginal]

Need full backs getting forward again and even getting to back post as balls fly across opposition box.

Shields leading the line isn’t working Scott W. should be battering Owens door down.

[Zanetti]

18 minutes ago, QPoriginal said:

Need full backs getting forward again and even getting to back post as balls fly across opposition box.

Shields leading the line isn’t working Scott W. should be battering Owens door down.

I think this is less of a Shields issue, and much more to do with the fact that Savoury and Thomas have been utterly anonymous for weeks.

He's being forced to get involved in the build up play, and drifting out wide a lot to compensate for the severe lack of service. 

Still, I wouldn't be against seeing him and Williamson play together!

[1320Lichtie]

7 minutes ago, Zanetti said:

I think this is less of a Shields issue, and much more to do with the fact that Savoury and Thomas have been utterly anonymous for weeks.

He's being forced to get involved in the build up play, and drifting out wide a lot to compensate for the severe lack of service. 

Still, I wouldn't be against seeing him and Williamson play together!

Aye but it’s a lot easier for Savoury and Thomas when someone as good as Murray is playing ahead of them and upfront making all the runs he does. Murray is amazing at that. Even the game against us the amount of good balls you put across the box who had nobody on end of them, Murray 100 percent scores that game.

 

I said as soon as you lost him it made Dundee favourites for me. 

 

Still please do the business Friday you are still massively in the title race 

[Zanetti]

2 minutes ago, 1320Lichtie said:

Aye but it’s a lot easier for Savoury and Thomas when someone as good as Murray is playing ahead of them and upfront making all the runs he does. Murray is amazing at that. Even the game against us the amount of good balls you put across the box who had nobody on end of them, Murray 100 percent scores that game.

 

I said as soon as you lost him it made Dundee favourites for me. 

 

Still please do the business Friday you are still massively in the title race 

I don't disagree that Murray's leadership was a massive factor in how well we had been doing, and if he were here right now the heads wouldn't have gone down the way they have. Shields did still score 4 in his first 4 appearances though, and that was when the creative players were still getting to ball to him in good areas so I think the ability is definitely there.

[CityDave94]

Do Accies want to stay up more than Queen's Park want to play in the Premiership?

There's a question for tomorrow evening.

[Bring Your Own Socks]

1 minute ago, approximately dave said:

Do Accies want to stay up more than Queen's Park want to play in the Premiership?

There's a question for tomorrow evening.

So ask it tomorrow evening then.