Queen's Park - Mission Impossible?

[Klippybo]

MARCH

View attachment 43257
Queen's Park 3 (Peters 13, Glen 16pen, Mbayo 68)
Clyde 3 (Johnston 45, 46, Hopkirk 90)

Lineup - Dolan, Hodge, Mbayo, Wells, Drummond (McCracken), Walker, Black, Glen, Osadolar, (Jeffries) Peters, Gullan (Kerr)

Once again we throw away a 2 goal lead and once again we concede a last minute goal. At least we got a point I suppose. Jack Kerr made his debut.

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View attachment 43256
Edinburgh City 3 (Handling 22, Belmokhtar 51, 67)
Queen's Park 4 (Kerr 23, Peters 80, 89, Mbayo 83)

Lineup - Dolan, Hodge, Mbayo, Wells, Drummond (McCracken), Walker (Martin), Black, Glen (Nelson), Osadolar, Peters, Kerr

What a comeback!!!! We fell behind but Jack Kerr quickly equalised with his first goal for us but then in the 2nd half they surged into a 3-1 lead but in the final 10min Peters scored twice and Mbayo netted in the 2nd game running!!!

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View attachment 43255
​​Albion Rovers 1 (McGuigan 20)
Queen's Park 3 (Kerr 5, 8, Peters 7)

Lineup - Dolan, Hodge, Mbayo, Wells, Drummond, Walker, Black, Glen (Jeffries), Osadolar (Nelson), Peters (Gullan), Kerr*

We were on fire for the first 8min as Kerr scored twice and got an assist while Peters did the opposite as their partnership starts with a bang. After that we took our foot off the pedal though annoyingly!

Albion sacked their manager straight after this game.

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View attachment 43254
Queen's Park 3 (Peters 2, Glen 20pen, Kerr 62)
Elgin City 0

Lineup - Dolan, Hodge, Mbayo, Wells, Drummond, Walker, Black (Martin), Glen, Osadolar (Jeffries), Peters*, Kerr

This win secures a play-off spot for us. Peters and Kerr are certainly doing well together!!!

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SUMMARY

We are on the brink of promotion after a month where we banged in the goals thanks to Peters and Kerr and Gullan deserves a mention too. We scored at least 3 goals in every game and have a 9pt advantage with only 4 games to go. Nearly there!!!!!

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JOSH PETERS
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LEAGUE TABLE
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[Klippybo]

APRIL

View attachment 43253
Queen's Park 1 (Gullan 72)
Berwick Rangers 0

Lineup - Dolan, Hodge, Mbayo, Wells, Drummond, Walker (Martin), Black, Glen*, Osadolar, Peters (Watters), Kerr (Gullan)

WE WIN THE LEAGUE!!!!!!

Champions!!!! I didn't realise we had won it until I saw the players celebrating on the park. My two strikers had a nightmare tbh but the two sub strikers came on and played well with Gullan scoring the winner against our bogey team.

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View attachment 43252
​​Peterhead 1 (Cunningham 83)
Queen's Park 1 (Gullan 87)

Lineup - Dolan, Hodge, Mbayo, Wells, Drummond, Walker, Black*, Glen (Nelson), Osadolar (Jeffries), Peters (Gullan), Kerr

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View attachment 43251
​​Annan Athletic 0
Queen's Park 3 (Peters 2, 33, Kerr 58)

Lineup - Dolan, Hodge, Mbayo, McLauchlan (McCracken), Wells, Walker, Black, Glen (Nelson), Osadolar, Peters*, Kerr

Peters and Kerr back to their best!!! This win gives us a club record for the amount of points won in a season. Ross Drummond had played in every game in the league this season until this match.

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View attachment 43250
Queen's Park 2 (Kerr 34, Peters 41)
Stirling Albion 3 (Smith 38, 90, Stewart 77)

Lineup - Dolan, Hodge, Mbayo (McCracken), Wells, Drummond, Walker, Black, Glen (Nelson), Osadolar (Jeffries), Peters, Kerr

For the 2nd time this season we throw away a lead against Stirling and lose the match to a stoppage time goal. I don't like Stirling now lol.

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SUMMARY

A decent ending to the season which saw us crowned League 2 champions was marred by the fact that Stirling did a number on us on the final day of the season. We now just have to plan for next season and hope upon hope that we can at least get semi-professional status.

End of season post to come.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JACK KERR
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[tazz1966]

thanx for getting back to me and congrats on promotion
regen looks amazing

 

[Klippybo]

END OF SEASON POST

A decent season!!! I thought promotion was always a possibility when I strengthened the squad pre-season as I had quick players, especially up front, and I just hoped that playing 4-2-4 would be too much for the 3rd division and I was right!!

Funnily enough I was actually more proud of our cup exploits as we were competitive in the Betfred Cup - even managing to beat SPL side Dundee - we reached the quarter-finals of the Irn Bru Cup and even reached the 5th round of the Scottish Cup.

The season was certainly a learning curve. I now know to make full use of the loan system as I cant get my players poached during the season if they are on loan. I also may need to not sign players for the next season in case they get poached in the summer so to only sign players when I need them. In a way I need to know that I can replace some players when they do get poached in the January window!!!

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LEAGUE 2 TABLE
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FIRST TEAM SQUAD
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No prizes who was crucial here. Josh Peters!!!! Over 40 goals, a decent amount of assists and how we still have him I don't know. Ian Black and Harlain Mbayo was also crucial while Watters, Gullan and Kerr all proved to be important.

A special mention goes out to Lewis Clark, Richard Roy and Jamie McKernon who were great for me before moving on. Also Adam Hodge played in every single league game for us which is an achievement considering I used 34 players in total!!!!

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PLAYER OF THE SEASON
JOSH PETERS
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YOUNG PLAYER OF THE SEASON
JACK KERR
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OTHER STUFF
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WE GO SEMI-PRO!!!!!!
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AIMS FOR THE SUMMER

I haven't been given a budget for the new season yet but tbh I don't care as now I know we are going semi-pro I feel I can attract a better calibre of player and protect the club from losing players for nothing. Expect a busy summer regarding player recruitment!!!

Nobody is safe apart from Black, Peters and Kerr pretty much lol.

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[brooksey84]

Queens park normally have good intakes! Love your stories

 

[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON

Well I say pre-season but as is the case in Scotland there still is over a month of the transfer window left when the season kicks-off!!! This summer was all about deciding who got a semi-pro contract and then strengthening the side at the same time. I have done that but tbh I am still unsure which formation I am going to go with!!!!

I had a £350,000 transfer budget but I haven't spent a penny as nobody decent worth any money wanted to sign for me so in a way apart from being able to pay players £500 a week (most on half that) it didn't change anything as I was shopping in the loan and free transfer market.

Firstly to players out and there was a gutting move there...……

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PLAYERS OUT

Jack Kerr has left the club!!!! I tried to get him to sign a new contract but Raith Rovers made their move before the game moved us up to League 1 and he wasn't interested in even talking to me about a new deal so off he went but I will keep an eye on him and maybe we will bring him back one day.

Adam Martin has joined Morton while I released McLauchlan, Campbell, Dolan and Bailey while a couple of players who never got a game also left the club to go to non-league football.

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PLAYERS IN

I brought in 12 players so not going to go into depth about every single one as that would take forever!!!
View attachment 43391

Firstly I used my real life knowledge having watched Aberdeen U20s a few times to bring in a few players from them. Sebastien Ross and Christian Antoniazzi joins on loan while Bruce Anderson and more importantly Harlain Mbayo joined permanently.

Parent side Hibernian also helped me out. I brought in Sean Mackie on loan and got Callum Donaldson permanently and they will be my full backs for the campaign.

Quite possibly my best piece of business was the signings of three non-league players. Striker Anton Brady joins from East Kilbride, Carlo Monti joins from Kilwinning Rangers and former Scotland international defender, Garry Kenneth, joined from Broughty Athletic.
View attachment 43390View attachment 43389View attachment 43388

I also brought in my new keeper, Blair Currie, from Clyde while Scott Ross (Peterhead) and Kyle Clark (Dundee) joined to add strength to the squad.

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OTHER NEWS

In the Betfred Cup we have been drawn alongside parent side Hibernian as well as Ayr United, Arbroath and Edinburgh City in our group stage while in the Irn Bru Cup we will play Dunfermline Athletic who thumped us last season.

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[Klippybo]

JULY

Betfred Cup Group F
​​View attachment 43249
​​Hibernian 4 (Forbes 20, 42pen, Murray 25, Byers 90)
Queen's Park 1 (Osadolar 58)

Lineup - Currie, Donaldson (Hodge), Mbayo, Kenneth, Drummond, Sebastian Ross, Black, Glen, Monti (Osadolar), Peters, Brady

I suppose I should accept this as a good result as Hibs absolutely trounced us and had over 30 shots on goal. Our right back that we signed from Hibs had a shocker though.

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Betfred Cup Group F
​​View attachment 43248
Queen's Park 1 (Brady 50)
Ayr United 1 (Shankland 38)
(Queen's Park win 4-2 on penalties)

Lineup - Currie, Donaldson, Mbayo, Kenneth (Scott Ross), Mackie, Sebastian Ross (Walker), Black, Glen, Osadolar, Peters (Watters), Brady*

Ayr United are a Championship side so its nice to see that my new team is competitive against them. Peters got injured and is out for a month or so so I may try a different formation for a while.

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Betfred Cup Group F
​​View attachment 43247

Arbroath 2 (Wallace 45, 62)
Queen's Park 3 (Antoniazzi 7, 41, Brady 14)

Lineup - Currie, Donaldson (Hodge), Mbayo (Scott Ross), Kenneth, Drummond, Sebastian Ross, Walker, McCluskey (Jeffries), Antoniazzi, Osadolar, Brady

Arbroath are a fellow League 1 side and for an hour we were superb before dropping off a bit. Antoniazzi and Brady scored two screamers from outside the box. I played a 4-2-3-1 formation due to the absence of Peters.

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SUMMARY

Not a bad start to the season as we got thumped by Hibs but defeated Ayr on penalties and Arbroath in normal time. The main question I still have to answer is what formation I am going to play. 4-2-4 got us promoted and in Parker and Brady I have 2 good strikers at this level yet I have quality options in AMC too...…

The biggest news of the month was that I paid a transfer fee for the first time in the clubs 151 year history!!!! The man who has that distinction is Aron Lynas who joined from Brechin City for a whopping £4,100. I followed that up by buying Dean Cairns from Airdire for £3,500.
View attachment 43374View attachment 43373

I also brought in 2 18y/o players to help the U20 side - a CM and a keeper.

I released Craig Johnston and Anthony Marenghi. When I strengthen a position I usually look to get rid of a lesser player on amateur status for no extra cost.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ANTON BRADY
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[Klippybo]

AUGUST

Betfred Cup Group F
View attachment 43246
Queen's Park 5 (Brady 15, 39, Black 25, Glen 41, Walker 70)
Edinburgh City 3 (Small 43, 44, 67)

Lineup - Currie, Donaldson, Mbayo, Kenneth, Mackie, Sebastian Ross, Black, Glen (Scott Ross), Antoniazzi, Osadolar (Walker), Brady

We were 4up and cruising and then we conceded 2 quick goals and then in the 2nd half we had Mbayo sent-off and they then scored again however came from an unlikely source in an unlikely way as Allan Walker smashed home a free-kick. Alas this win is not enough for us to go through.

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View attachment 43244
Queen's Park 2 (Sebastian Ross 52, Leitch 69)
Arbroath 0

Lineup - Currie, Donaldson, Cairns, Kenneth, Mackie, Sebastian Ross*, Black (Leitch), Glen (Lynas), Antoniazzi, Monti, Brady (Watters)

We kick off our League 1 campaign with a decent win. We took the lead thanks to a screamer from Seb Ross and substitute Jack Leitch scored on his debut with his first touch.

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View attachment 43243
​​Stranraer 2 (Ashmore 15, McCallum 54)
Queen's Park 2 (Lynas 69, Antoniazzi 81)

Lineup - Currie, Donaldson (Hodge), Cairns, Kenneth, Mackie, Sebastian Ross (Leitch), Black, Lynas, Antoniazzi, Monti (Osadolar), Brady

Stranraer opened their campaign with a big win away to newly relegated Alloa so I am delighted with this point - especially since we were 2-0 down with just over 20min to go.

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View attachment 43242
Queen's Park 2 (Brady 7, Monti 48)
Airdrieonians 1 (McCluskey 44)

Lineup - Currie, Donaldson, Cairns (Mbayo), Kenneth, Mackie, Sebastian Ross*, Black, Lynas (Glen), Antoniazzi, Monti (Osadolar), Brady

A hard fought win in an even match and a win that takes us top of the league.

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Irn Bru Cup 1st Round
​​View attachment 43241
Dunfermline Athletic 4 (Smith 25, 42, Thomson 36, Clark 90)
Queen's Park 1 (Osadolar 52)

Lineup - Currie, Donaldson, Cairns, Kenneth, Mackie, Sebastian Ross, Black, Lynas (Glen), Antoniazzi, Osadolar, Brady (Peters)

For the 2nd time in as many seasons we have been drawn against Dunfermline in a cup and on both occasions we have been thumped.

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View attachment 43240
Clyde 1 (Hogg 26)
Queen's Park 2 (Peters 36, 40)

Lineup - Currie, Donaldson, Cairns, Kenneth (Mbayo), Mackie, Sebastian Ross, Leitch, Black (Walker), Lynas (Anderson), Brady, Peters*

I went back to 2 up front but this time with no wingers but a 4-3-1-2 narrow formation. Brady and Peters linked up well and Peters scored a double on his first appearance in the league this season.

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SUMMARY

Our start to the league campaign has been decent as we are top of the league and unbeaten. Our performances have been patchy tbh and I still haven't settled on a formation but that is to be expected after overhauling the squad in the summer.

In the Irn Bru Cup we came unstuck yet again against Dunfermline and after receiving 2 humpings against them their card has been marked!!!!!

Regarding the transfer market we signed Jack Leitch to bolster our midfield. He has joined from Peterhead. The transfer window closes on the 1st of September so I will see ifwe can strengthen the squad further.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
SEBASTIAN ROSS
View attachment 43352

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LEAGUE TABLE
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[Klippybo]

WHAT THE **** HAS HAPPENED TO MY LOGOS!!!!!!!

Better go and sort this **** out lol

 

[tzahy]

great story mate

 

[Cbarber871]

The last two years two teams from NI and Wales have been allowed in to the Challenge Cup

fair enough lol had no idea

 

[loklokno123]

Always admire people managing Scottish sides.

 

[brooksey84]

Hope this isn't dead.