Turning Queen's Park into kings

[CraigWL]

FINAL DAY OF THE 2014-15 SEASON


CLYDE V QUEEN'S PARK (League 2)

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One forced change for this match as Collins comes in for the injured Moore.

This was it then, the final day of the season, we need a 4 goal swing to win the league, a mini miracle if i'm honest. I'll have one eye on the Berwick scoreline, for sure.

Things got off to a horrible start for us as Innes hit a lovely drive from 20 yards into the bottom left corner after just 5 minutes. The rest of the half passed without any action whatsoever, looks like our title challenge was going to be over with a whimper. Arbroath were also 1-0 up against Berwick at half time, which was even more annoying.

GOAL UPDATE: ARBROATH 2 - 0 BERWICK (Lowdon 60')

For crying out loud, the Berwick game was going better for us than we could ever have hoped, and we were absolutely bottling this match against Clyde. The lads started to show fight though, and McVey volleyed in a Fotheringham cross in the 67th minute to give us some hope of snatching the title. There was still time...

GOAL UPDATE: ARBROATH 3 - 0 BERWICK (McBride 85')

I couldn't believe what i was seeing. Berwick were getting mauled by Arbroath and were down to 10 men, realistically all we had to do was score...

We couldn't.

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I was devastated. Berwick had lost by 3 goals, meaning that if we had just won our game, we'd be ending the season as champions on goals scored, but no, we failed to beat Barry Ferguson's Clyde, our arch rivals. Maybe if the likes of Moore and Hamill hadn't been injured we would have done it, but i'm making excuses, we should have won. We were awarded £52k for finishing 2nd in the league, a nice little boost to our finances, but it merely softened the blow of losing the league like that.

Incredibly, Barry Ferguson was sacked at the end of the season, a shame, as i think he deserved a little more time there.

We'll now look forward to the play offs, maybe we can still make it...

​

 

[CantGetEnoughOfJelavic]

Ooh, unlucky. Good luck in the play offs.

 

[CraigWL]

Ooh, unlucky. Good luck in the play offs.

Don't think i've ever gotten that close without actually making it before! Appreciate it.

 

[CraigWL]

Alright, first of all, i'd like to apologise for 'breaking character' so to speak, but something has happened that has really ticked me off. For some completely unknown reason, FM detected the final game of the league season to be the absolute end of the domestic season for us, which led to my entire squad going on holiday. This is now what i'm looking at...

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There are many more not on that screenshot too. So, this now means that i have to go into our play off game against Annan with a squad full of fake players due to the real ones being on holiday. The same thing has happened to Annan, but this really does baffle me.​

 

[Conflictinbanno]

That is the most bizarre thing I have ever seen, surely that one is actually a glitch in the system and it has forgotten to note that the play-off's are there, has it happened to the other sides in the play-off's? Or could it be the teams that weren't expected to be in the play-off's, have just had their players go? Not sure where Annan would have been predicted to finish.

Unlucky on not ending as Champions too, at the start it looked like you would make it but I guess inconsistency in the second half of the season hurt that more than just the last game!

 

[CraigWL]

That is the most bizarre thing I have ever seen, surely that one is actually a glitch in the system and it has forgotten to note that the play-off's are there, has it happened to the other sides in the play-off's? Or could it be the teams that weren't expected to be in the play-off's, have just had their players go? Not sure where Annan would have been predicted to finish.

Unlucky on not ending as Champions too, at the start it looked like you would make it but I guess inconsistency in the second half of the season hurt that more than just the last game!

I'm pretty sure it has happened to the other teams too, i know for a fact it's happened to Annan. Very confusing, but i guess we'll have to deal with it. And you're right to be honest, we were sporadic with our form during some months, and points dropped against teams like East Fife were what cost us in the end.

 

[CraigWL]

I seriously apologise for the ridiculous notions and events in this update.

​PLAY-OFFS



It was the evening before the first leg of the play off tie against Annan, and after a good morning training session, i had invited Chris Hillcoat to my office for a quick discussion.

"Good evening Chris, thanks for coming so quickly, i've just asked you over here to discuss the squad's morale with you, i know there have been problems over the season, but i think we've done ourselves proud, and just wanted to know if the squad felt the same way, are they ready for the game tomorrow?"

Chris was looking increasingly sheepish.

"Erm... about that. I think the morale of the squad is fine right now, but i'm not sure that the lads will be ready for tomorrow"

"Why exactly do you say that, Chris?"

"Well, you see, we feel that our squad plays best under relaxed conditions when they're allowed to play their game, right? So we thought that we'd ease tensions, me and David McCallum have been in contact recently with Chris Jardine at Michael Wright over at Annan, and we both decided to send our squads to a venue in Manchester, where they could enjoy themselves and build relationships to prevent any feisty encounters tomorrow, we paid for it out of our own pockets of course, nothing has come out of the club's coiffers."

"Smashing idea Chris, so... Why won't they be ready?"

"The buses that both squads went on, they've had their tyres popped by some hooligan Man United supporters who came home in the afternoon after their trip to Hull"

I couldn't believe what i was hearing, it was like something out of a fantasy tale.

"Is there nothing we can do?"

"Sadly not, everyone who organised it is completely skint, and they didn't take any spare tyres with them."

"Well, what are we going to do? We can't play against them when neither of us have a squad to work with!"

"The best thing i could come up with was to send out an open invitation to any local footballers who wanted to try their luck at playing for us, Annan have done the same thing as far as i'm aware."

"Fine, this is absolutely ridiculous, but give me a call when everyone has arrived tomorrow morning, i'll run a quick session with them, then we'll all get over to Annan and do the best we can"

ANNAN VS QUEEN'S PARK (Play Off Semi Final 1st leg)

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I had expected a number of things when i took this job, but this was ridiculous, it was like someone had made it up. We were playing with a group of Sunday League footballers who were about to play in one of the most important ties in the club's recent history. The only reassurance for us was that Annan were currently in the same situation. What made it worse? Everyone was either 16 or 17 years old. Yes, we were operating purely with teenagers.


Things went better than expected, and after 34 minutes, Darren Wylde chested down a Charlie Stubberfield throw in and passed it inside to Alastair Mitchell, who managed to beat Andrew Maxwell at his near post. The majority of the game had little to no action, and i was hoping that we were about to hold on for a memorable win, but in the 70th minute, Craig Grieve turned inside Mark McDonald and fired past Donald Marshall to make it 1-1. I don't think i'd seen such confusion in a football crowd before.

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A good result considering the bizarre circumstances, it puts us in a decent position going into the home leg.

I gave Chris a phonecall...

"Chris, is there any word from the squad? Will they be available for the second leg?"

"It's unlikely boss, i've been on the phone to Tony Quinn but he's got no ideas, we still can't afford to send anything over there for them."

"For crying out loud, why did they even go to Manchester to do this? Why was this whole thing even necessary?!"

"Neutral ground i guess"

Because there's no neutral ground anywhere in Scotland...

"Do they not have any money on them? How on earth are they even surviving?"

"They're all using their money on food and drink, and they're sleeping in the buses overnight."

I give up...


QUEEN'S PARK VS ANNAN (Play Off Semi Final 2nd leg)


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At least this lot have stayed with us for the time being. Fingers crossed they can get the job done. We were almost sent into raptures after half an hour after a Liam Hughes free kick from inside the D hit the crossbar. Our players were dropping like flies, seemingly unable to cope with the physical stress of the game.

Heartbreak struck after 75 minutes, when George Waters bounced on a parry by Donald Marshall to tap into an empty net. Annan had the ball in the net again after 81 minutes, but Waters' effort was disallowed for offside. There was still hope...

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Not anymore, the dream was over. Our season ended largely due to a bunch of drunken idiots in Manchester. Honestly, i don't know why they were all sent out to have a meal with the opposition in the first place, i guess it was sort of a good idea to prevent any tensions, but looking back on it, the whole thing is a bit ridiculous.

Another phonecall to Hillcoat followed.

"Well, that's it Chris, it's over, what's the status of the squad?

"Us and Annan have finally managed to pool the money together to get them all back, but once they all return, they're planning to leave again on their post season holidays, so you probably won't see them again until June"

Great timing.

Almost as soon as i put the phone down, Mr Jack was on the phone.

"Craig, i heard about what happened in Manchester, and you really should have handled the situation better, you can't let your staff set up things like that without your ok, fair enough it may have been out of your control, but you're the manager, you're the one who needs to ok these things. Your managerial ability on the pitch is without question, but you desperately need improvement in your squad management and keeping in check with your backroom staff, i don't think i've ever seen a manager so out of touch in that regard, of course you'll still be here next season, and i thank you for delivering such a memorable year, but make sure to work on those aspects of your job."

I was gutted, i felt like i'd let the club, fans, players, everyone, down. I need to keep on top of these things, no doubt whatsoever. Hopefully next season we'll have more harmony between the players, and something as ridiculous as this will not happen ever again.

END OF THE 2014/15 SEASON







​

 

[DreamTempest]

Holy s**t that was hilarious! I literally cried while laughing at your misfortune and trying to imagine it happening in real life. I felt bad at the end though, that stupid bug literally killed your promotion. Can't say I ever saw anything half as insane as that before.

 

[PatrickLFC]

You've done really well to explain that one off, great job! Very unlucky though

 

[dllu]

I guess you can only recall players from holidays that you sent them on yourself, not from the obligatory end-of-season break?

Anyway, that has to be the best and funniest explanation of a blunder I have seen on this forum. Even if the blunder was the game's and not yours. Best of luck next season - I'm sure you'll smash the division if you keep this up!

 

[CraigWL]

Thanks guys! It's one of the strangest things i've ever experienced when it comes to FM, but oh well, it happens i suppose.

The explanation was a bit far fetched, but, it can happen, right? right?

Probably not.

 

[CraigWL]

2015-16 PRE SEASON ROUND UP

AWARDS

To kick off, i'd like to express my delight at the news that Sean Burns was named Player of the Year, and that Lewis Wilson was named in the Team of the Year

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Exactly why the player of the year wasn't named in the team of the year? Don't know, i've given up trying to understand this league, too many things have confused me since arriving here.

At club level, Vincent Berry was named the fans' player of the year, narrowly beating Sean Burns to the award, he also faced competition from Jordan Moore and William Muir.

This was our best eleven for the season:

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MISC

Mr Jack phoned me to inform me that we have announced an official link with Championship side Dumbarton, we will host an annual friendly against them, and they will have access to our training facilities. Wow, wonder why they were interested in that partnership... Are we a charity case now?

In better news, the bookies are giving us a better chance of going up this time around!

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Relegated Peterhead are 1000-1 to win the league, the next lowest are East Stirlingshire at 50/1. How strange.

TRANSFERS

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OUTS

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One of a few outs that was out of my control, and probably the one that hurt the most. Ayr offered him a part time contract and despite my best attempts to convince him to stay, he ended up leaving to join the League One side. A big shame, as he was one of our best players last season, and we will most likely miss him.

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Another player who left when offered a contract by another club, this time Paul Woods left to join Arbroath. He was unsettled anyway so i'm not as disappointed by this one as i was about Slattery.

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Another player who i tried to keep a hold of but failed, David Sinclair left to join League One side Brechin when they offered him a contract. He probably would have featured a bit more this season following Slattery's departure but he decided to pack his bags himself.

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Again, one who i wanted to keep around as he was a decent backup keeper to Muir, but he ultimately decided to join Stranraer. He has decent potential too, so best of luck to him.

INS

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Steven Smith, on loan from Alloa Athletic, we attempted to sign him on loan last season but he opted to join Stenhousemuir instead, we were the sole chasers of him this time around though and he decided to make the move to Hampden. He should prove an excellent replacement for Craig Watson.


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Probably one of the most controversial figures of Scottish football in recent memory, Garry O'Connor, a former Premier League, Scottish Premier League and Russian Premier League striker, renowned for blowing his undeniable talent (and money) after becoming hooked on drugs, alcohol and cars. I might come under a bit of fire for this signing. Still, i'm focused on what's best for this club, and i believe that he will be a brilliant asset at this level. He most recently played for Scottish Lowland league side Selkirk, where he scored 17 goals in 34 games.

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Gordon Hardie, who has joined us on loan until the end of the season from St Mirren, an aerially proficient player who will hopefully be a commanding figure at the back for us this season.

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Barry Burns, who has returned to the club on loan until the end of the season from Rangers. He played for us at the beginning of last season before leaving to join Ross County, but was snapped up by Rangers at the beginning of this season and has returned to us to further develop his skills.

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Ryan Baptie, who has also joined us on loan until the end of the season, from Inverness Caley. A great athlete who could probably play at League One level, he should be an excellent asset for us and will hopefully be able to fill Lewis Wilson's shoes.

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Ryan Tierney, a very well rounded striker with bags of potential who will compete with the likes of O'Connor and Deuchar for starting spots this season. Was last at Hamilton Academical.

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Gabriel Auriemma, a quick central midfielder who will provide strength in depth in the middle of the park. Was most recently at Livingston.


PRE SEASON FRIENDLIES

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Nothing overly interesting here, we got the results in the games we were expected to and didn't get the results in games we weren't expected to, 1-1 against Dumbarton is a very good effort, though.

CUP DRAWS

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Two games against higher level sides, interestingly drawn against our new affiliates, and against League One side Stenhousemuir. Not overly optimistic, but after our exploits against Dundee last season, anything is possible!

The tie against Stenhousemuir is coming up, actually, better prep the squad...






​

 

[CraigWL]

OPENING CUP GAMES

STENHOUSEMUIR VS QUEEN'S PARK (Challenge Cup Round 1)

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A mixture of new and old faces in the lineup for the first cup game away to Stenhousemuir, i decided to see what some of the lads could do. Auriemma, Baptie and Hardie make their Queen's Park debuts, Barry Burns plays his first game since returning, Smith and Tierney could debut if they come on. U20 players Chris Scott and Thomas Collins are afforded starting places. Muir prevented our season getting off to a poor start after 7 minutes, tipping a Watt volley from the edge of the box wide. Muir had to be subbed at half time due to him taking a knock in the first half.

We should have taken the lead 5 minutes into the second half, but Mathis somehow put his shot from 5 yards into the arms of ex Carlisle keeper Greg Fleming despite an excellent cross from Baptie. We gifted Stenhousemuir a perfect opportunity to take the lead in the 64th minute when Baptie tripped Watt inside the area. Malin stepped up and made no mistake. We came unbelievably close to restoring parity after 70 minutes when Auriemma found Berry on the edge of the box, who unleashed a thunderous drive which crashed against the bar and bounced out. Unfortunately, that was the last action of the game.

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A disappointing but expected result, Stenhousemuir are the better side and it showed in the end. It turns out that Muir suffered whiplash after falling awkwardly and will be out for 6-9 days, meaning he will likely miss the next match vs Dumbarton.

The numbers had also came in, we had sold 205 season tickets for the upcoming season, 5 more than we did last year. Every little helps i suppose!

We have also confirmed the signing of another midfielder...

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Darren Smith, a real leader of a player, with bags of experience at League 2 and League 1 level, brought in to provide depth in the defensive midfield area.

We have also signed a new backup goalkeeper following the departure of Blair Lochhead

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Sam MacLean, an ex Nairn County keeper, who will provide backup to Muir while hopefully making himself a better player.

Kenny Deuchar has also announced that he will retire from football at the end of the season, a shame, but he has been unhappy for a while and it does not surprise me.

DUMBARTON VS QUEEN'S PARK (League Cup 1st Round)

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Six changes for this game against our associates Dumbarton. Tierney, Smith and MacLean make their debuts in place of Collins, Auriemma and the injured Muir. Gibson, Mitchell and Smith also come in for Barry Burns, Mathis and Scott.

Things didn't get off to the best of starts, as Winter was forced off with an injury after just 5 minutes. Mathis back into the fray... Tierney also came off just after half time with a knock, and was replaced by Garry O'Connor who makes his debut for us. Dumbarton emphasised their superior quality early in the second half as Megginson found Fleming with a low cross, allowing him to fire past MacLean to make it 1-0. Fleming was on hand to make us pay once again, latching on to a McCallum pass and taking advantage of some slack defending to make it 2-0.

We struck back mere moments later however when Mathis found Mitchell just inside the area, who composed himself before placing it past Ewings to halve the deficit. We were lucky not to concede a third just before the 70 minute mark, as Megginson found acres of space inside our area, but could only strike the post with his effort. Our fans were sent into raptures in the 80th minute, as Berry found Mathis with a pass inside the area, allowing him to slam home with his left foot. We deserved to be behind in the 87th minute however, as Agnew found Megginson at the far post inside the 6 yard box, who somehow fired his effort against the post, the ball rebounded to him, and his second effort was superbly blocked by the sliding Barry Burns.

From the resulting corner, the ball eventually fell to McCallum, 25 yards out from goal, and his long range drive clipped off the crossbar before going over. McCallum was again causing us problems in stoppage time, but his headed goal from the penalty spot was disallowed for offside. We'd somehow survived and taken it into extra time.

The extra time period was completely devoid of any goalmouth action, and the match went into penalties. This was my first shootout since taking charge of the club, and i simply urged the players to be smart with their penalties, don't do anything silly, focus on burying it. Van Zanten was the first to take a penalty for Dumbarton... and he made no mistake, sending MacLean the wrong way. Our marquee signing O'Connor was next up... and he did the exact same thing, sending Ewings right and putting his shot down the left.

Turner was next up... and he buried his penalty into the bottom right corner. Steven Smith was next up, and he managed to beat Ewings for power. Megginson made no mistake with his penalty, placing it to the right hand side. Mathis would take next, and fire his penalty into the top right corner. No team was looking like missing!

The next penalty, taken by Linton, was just squeezed through the palms of MacLean. Mitchell took our 4th penalty, and found the top right corner despite Ewings guessing the right way. Agnew also converted Dumbarton's 5th pen, placing it in the bottom right corner. Hardie avoided heartbreak when he smashed his penalty straight down the middle to make it 5-5. Wilson was next up for Dumbarto, and he crashed his effort against the crossbar! Barry Burns stepped up to take what could be the decisive pen, make yourself a hero lad... and he did, finding the bottom left corner!

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I could barely contain my emotion, i shook hands with Ian Murray and his coaching staff, then sprinted onto the pitch and dove onto the already large pile of bodies that had amassed on top of Burns, what a result for us! Unfortunately, Tierney suffered a groin strain in the game and will miss 4-5 weeks.

Ronald Jack phoned me the next day...

"Hey Craig, well done on the win yesterday, you did the club proud, just wanted to say that we're satisfied with what you're doing so far, the fans appear to be especially happy with the signing of the new 'keeper MacLean. Just make sure to try and get that squad harmony up, there are still plenty signs of discontent in that dressing room unfortunately."

"No problem Mr Jack, it is being worked on, i am hoping as the season goes on it will improve, i have to say though, i will be more focused on getting results than anything else"

Whether that priority will cost me, we shall wait and see.



​

 

[CraigWL]

AUGUST

We kicked off the month with the draw for the 2nd round of the League Cup.

​

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Well, again, not the easiest draw for us, but we'll do our best. We're one of only 4 League 2 sides left, hopefully we can do the league proud.

I woke up on the 8th to see this...

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So... here we have James Marr, Dale Jones, Connor Murray and John Carter, the first three of which are U20 players, all complaining about a lack of first team football, after 2 cup games, before the league season has even started. Superb.

I was able to talk Murray down, but unfortunately the other three wouldn't listen. Marr and Jones remain unsettled, and i have made the decision to release Carter from the squad.

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After that inconvenience...

EAST FIFE V QUEEN'S PARK (League 2)

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Numerous changes in this match, as Collins, Mathis, Auriemma, McKeown, Burns and Muir come in for Tierney, Winter, Mitchell, Smith, Smith and MacLean. Not a bad way to start the season off in prospect, against the side who finished rock bottom last season but stayed up after winning the relegation play off.

We nearly took an immediate lead as Sean Burns latched on to a Baptie cross in the 6 yard box, but his shot was miraculously saved by Gott. Burns would make no mistake after 13 minutes however, when Mathis whipped in an early cross, Maskrey's attempted clearance hit the back of Woolley and fell to Burns, who volleyed into the top left corner.

It would take until the 75th minute for another piece of action to happen, when Austin ran on to a long ball over the top before finessing into the top right corner to give East Fife an equaliser.


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Slightly disappointing to throw the win away like that, but we'll take it and move on.

We received the devastating news after the game that Garry O'Connor had tore his hamstring, and will be out for 3-4 months. Not what we wanted at all.

Not only that, but the result gave us a really unwanted record...

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Very demoralising to see. Hopefully we can pick it up going forward.

We have also decided to release David MacGregor as he was complaining about a lack of first team football.

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A shame, as he was good for us last season, but i don't want the discontent to elevate to uncontrollable levels.

In more positive news... Ryan Baptie and Vincent Berry were named in the team of the week.

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David Ramsay and Kevin Fotheringham also approached me asking for more first team football. I eventually managed to make Ramsay reconsider his demands, and i told Fotheringham that he would get his chance if he could be specifically mentioned in Chris Hillcoat's monthly training report. We'll see how that goes.

We have also confirmed another signing ahead of our next game against East Stirlingshire...

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Robbie McNab, a player who started his career at Falkirk and has opted to join us. He has experience at Championship level and his physical ability should aid us in the defensive midfield area.

QUEEN'S PARK V EAST STIRLINGSHIRE (League 2)

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Two changes for this clash, as McNab comes in for McKeown to make his debut, while Steven Smith replaces Gibson. We have won 3 and drawn 1 of our 4 encounters with East Stirlingshire since i arrived, so i was quietly confident of winning this one.

We took the lead almost half an hour in after Collins headed in a Smith cross from just inside the 6 yard box to score his first goal of the season. We scored our second in rather bizarre fashion, as Berry headed a Sean Burns corner towards goal, the ball struck the underside of the bar and bounced down before Hardie slid in and knocked the ball in from what was essentially on the goal line.

We didn't start the second half well, and after a Graeme MacGregor free kick hit the crossbar, Ian McMurray was on hand to tap in and halve our lead. Despite the setback, we were able to see out the rest of the game with little issue.

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4 points from opening 2 games, given our situation, i'm more than happy with that.

Gordon Hardie was named in the team of the week following his performance.

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QUEEN'S PARK V ELGIN CITY (League 2)


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A single change in this game, as Winter replaces Mathis on the right flank. A win from this game would be excellent, to give us some momentum going into our match against Partick Thistle on Tuesday.

It took until the end of the half for any team to come up with a decent attempt on goal, and sadly for us it was Elgin who made the breakthrough when a Graham cross found Thomson, whose header lopped over Muir to make it 1-0. I'd seen this all too many times from my team, a lack of creativity and fight, and it was costing us dearly. Things got worse for us after the restart, after Baptie received his second yellow card for clattering Cham on the halfway line. Very disappointing to see.

We weren't doing ourselves any favours, and we conceded again just a minute later in frankly shocking fashion. Muir rolled the ball out to Hardie, who took a horrendous touch, presenting the ball to Graham, who easily placed it past Muir to make it 2-0 to Elgin. We hit back in bizarre fashion, when Smith hit an early left footed cross which incredibly flew over Fraser's head into the far corner.

We pushed hard for an equaliser, but ultimately it cost us, as a counter attack led to Hardie conceding a penalty in the 93rd minute. Graham stepped up and put the game beyond any conceivable doubt.

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A very poor result, and if we play like that against Partick Thistle, they'll probably knock 6 or 7 past us.

Despite the defeat, Steven Smith was named in the team of the week.

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QUEEN'S PARK V PARTICK THISTLE (League Cup 2nd Round)

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I have decided to return to the 4-1-2-3 formation for the visit of Partick, and have made numerous changes, as Tierney, Hynes, Mathis, Darren Smith, Gibson and Marr come in for Collins, Sean Burns, Winter, Auriemma, Barry Burns and Steven Smith. I will be keeping a very close eye on Liverpool loanee Jordan Rossiter in this game.

To no-one's real surprise, Partick were able to emphasise their superior quality, and took the lead when Croft set up Stevenson, who easily scored from just outside the 6 yard box. Our chances were given a real boost after half an hour however, when Osman tripped Smith in midfield and was given a second yellow card. Could we do this? Quite possibly, as our fans were sent into hysterics when Mathis found Hynes at the back post with a cross, which he lashed home to restore parity.

We didn't stop there, as Mathis found even more space just inside the penalty area, allowing him to set up Tierney, who fired it along the floor into the net to score his first goal for the club, and give us the lead. I leapt and punched the air, not quite believing what i was seeing. We were sadly pegged back just after half time, when Nunes broke into the box, his shot was stopped by the legs of Muir, but the ball fell to Stevenson, who made no mistake and fired in to make it 2-2.

Stevenson was truly unplayable today, and took advantage of some poor defending on our part, finding plenty of space in the box and being found by Schuurman before turning and finding the bottom right corner to give the lead back to Partick. Stevenson nearly got his 4th goal of the game when he was found by Mareque at the near post with a cross, but his header struck the post and bounced clear.

We nearly got back into the game at the death when the ball rebounded to Tierney in the box, but his effort was heroically blocked by Balatoni. Partick would make us pay for committing too many men forward, with Nunes rounding Muir before tapping in to make it 4-2 and kill us off.

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I'm not too disappointed overall, Partick are definitely a better side, and after i heard that their manager Darren Ferguson had delivered a few inspiring words at half time, i wasn't really surprised that we had lost. Sad to be out, but not disheartened.

ALBION ROVERS V QUEEN'S PARK

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A few more changes for this one, with Collins, Sean Burns, Auriemma, Coll and Steven Smith come in for Hynes, Mathis, McNab, Marr and the suspended Baptie. 18 year old Ross Costello also comes in for Darren Smith to make his debut for the club. This could prove to be a feisty affair away to rivals Albion.

We conceded after 7 minutes in truly shocking fashion, as Muir hit Gibson when he attempted to play a long ball over the top, allowing McGuigan to steal in and make it 1-0. Things got worse for us, as Kevin Smith headed in from the penalty spot after a Fisher free kick. Things went from bad to frankly disastrous mere moments later after Smith again fired in following a Phillips cross. This was absolutely appalling.

Albion would extend their lead even further after McGuigan received a through ball from Smith before firing past Muir to make it 4-0 with not even half an hour gone. This was just plain embarrassing now. I wanted the ground to swallow me up. I could barely bring myself to look over at our traveling support.

We gave ourselves a half chance early on in the second half, when Winter fired in from just outside the 6 yard box following a pass from Collins. Any hope would be dashed almost immediately, when Phillips again found Smith with a cross, allowing him to beat Muir at his near post to seal his hat trick. Things would get no better for us, as Costello received his second yellow card after upending McNeil, getting sent off on his debut.

We were playing mainly for pride at this point, and we eased the pain a little bit when Collins headed in a Steven Smith cross at the back post.

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A truly dreadful performance on our part, completely outplayed and out-thought by Albion. I felt the most sorry for our fans, who had traveled only to see us put in a performance as bad as that. To make matters worse, Vincent Berry has suffered a thigh strain and will miss 4-5 weeks.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH

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Yohan Mathis, despite a poor month, he came up trumps in a couple of games, and always looked dangerous.

WORST PLAYER OF THE MONTH

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William Muir, not helped by a poor defence in front of him, but he was uninspiring in most of our games this month, being beaten at his near post on too many occasions, as well as being partially responsible for the absolute calamity of a goal against Albion.


​

 

[DreamTempest]

Ouch those were some terrible performances. I hope you can bounce back quickly.
Also annoying the **** of you with stupid demands for first team football seems to be a trait common to all scottish football. My Inverness CT career was plagued with that constantly. Once I won the Premiership (and thus had enough money to get better players) I lost my patience and sent them all away. (one particular young player with absolutely no skills bothered me no less than 8 times in the season)

 

[CraigWL]

Ouch those were some terrible performances. I hope you can bounce back quickly.
Also annoying the **** of you with stupid demands for first team football seems to be a trait common to all scottish football. My Inverness CT career was plagued with that constantly. Once I won the Premiership (and thus had enough money to get better players) I lost my patience and sent them all away. (one particular young player with absolutely no skills bothered me no less than 8 times in the season)

Annoys the **** out of me, honestly! I understand in some cases, when the player is an actual quality player who for some reason or another hasn't featured, but when youth players are coming up to me and complaining i really can't comprehend it. As tempted as i am to release half of them, i know i might regret it in the future.

 

[CraigWL]

SEPTEMBER 2015


With our first match of the month not coming until the 19th, we had plenty of time to reflect on the shocking performance against Albion. I also took to the time to have a browse on Twitter to see what people's opinion was.

@SpidersMan1867: "The last match was an absolute joke, against our massive rivals and we can't even show an ounce of passion or commitment, Lucock must go.

@LukeScott: "We've gone backwards since Lucock took over, we don't look like being able to move forward"

@QP95: "Lucock is doing his best under poor circumstances, we can't expect to beat everyone when we're stuck giving out amateur contracts and constantly repaying loans! We've played some good stuff under him and he deserves our backing

I wanted nothing more than the backing from the stands, but i knew that i might struggle to keep it with the way the team was playing. I was doing my best to help things off the field as well as on it, and i have opted to bring in a Director of Football as well as an U20s manager.

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Hopefully these appointments will assist with bringing players into the club, as well as helping with the development of younger players, and keeping them in check!

We have also given U20 winger David Ramsay a free transfer after he was unsatisfied with first team football opportunities. A shame, but it had to be done.

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We have been drawn against Cove Rangers in the 2nd round of the Scottish Cup.

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A game that we should be winning, but that counts for little with how the team is right now.

CLYDE V QUEEN'S PARK (League 2)

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Several changes from the last game, as Mathis, Fraser, McNab and Burns come into the side for Tierney, Berry, Costello, Coll and Gibson. Baptie also returns from suspension and replaces Coll. Probably not the game that we want to be playing now, away to our rivals and league leaders Clyde. The one positive going into this is that we have not lost in our last 4 encounters against them, the past doesn't decide the future, though...


We showed no signs of bouncing back from our defeat in the early stages, as Buchanan latched on to a Johnston cross and fired in from well inside the 6 yard box in the 10th minute. Things got no better, and on the stroke of half time, Buchanan curled a beautiful left footed shot into the top left corner from the edge of the box to bag his second goal of the game. We nearly got ourselves back into the game immediately after the restart, after Collins broke forward into the box from kick off, only to see his shot well palmed away by Martin. That would be the only real threat that we would pose however, and Johnston further extended Clyde's lead when he was found by Buchanan with a through ball, allowing him to fire past Muir to make it 3-0. Shocking.

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Things weren't getting any better for us, it seems like we're getting demolished on a regular basis now. Despite having more shots we only had one real opportunity to score.

QUEEN'S PARK V ANNAN (League 2)

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More changes here for the visit of Annan as we desperately try and find a winning formula. Hynes, McElroy, Winter, Berry, Miller, Gibson and Darren Smith come in for Collins, Sean Burns, Mathis, Fraser, Auriemma, McNab and Barry Burns.

It took a while, but we found a breakthrough just before half time, when Winter was on hand to nod in from 4 yards following a Steven Smith cross. We almost doubled our lead before the half time whistle as McElroy jumped past a sliding challenge from Ford, but his strike was well saved by Chris Smith, who got down well to his left. This was one of the first matches in a good while that i'd seen us dominate, and we should have made it 2 when Steven Smith hit an early cross to McElroy, who could only hit a left footed drive wide from just outside of the 6 yard box. Annan nearly sucker punched us late on, but Ford's effort after a lofted through ball was disallowed for offside.

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Not the most convincing result, but it was thoroughly deserved, and any win right now is an important one.

QUEEN'S PARK VS MONTROSE (League 2)

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More changes for this one as Ryan Smith, Sean Burns, Mathis, Auriemma, McNab and Barry Burns replace Collins, Winter, McElroy, Miller, Darren Smith and Gibson.

We made an excellent start to the game, when Barry Burns fed his namesake Sean down the left flank, allowing Sean to hit a grounded cross into the 6 yard box, finding Ryan Smith, who tapped in to give us the lead and to notch his first goal for the club on his debut. We doubled our advantage nearly 10 minutes after half time, when Berry received a ball from Mathis before playing a first time through ball ahead of Sean Burns, who drilled the ball past Edwards to make it 2-0.

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A confident result and performance, just what we wanted after the Clyde and Albion games.

I was also incredibly named 3rd in the manager of the month award.

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Certainly wouldn't have expected that after our game vs Clyde!
Things were looking a bit better for us after that, and i hope that we can carry on this run of good performances.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH

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Sean Burns, for pure consistency, he's been solid over the past month and i'm hoping he can regain his form that he had last season!

WORST PLAYER OF THE MONTH


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Gabriel Auriemma hasn't quite lived up to the hype that was expected of him after joining, but he's only been here for a month and i expect him to grow as a player given a bit of time.​

 

[PatrickLFC]

Not sure how it works but I had a thought. Maybe if your club's reputation is so low that the youth players have a reputation high enough to suggest they should be starting, that might be why they're expecting to? A case of all your players having higher reputations than the club? No idea if this is how it works or not, just occurred to me as a possibility. Or something similar maybe

 

[CraigWL]

Not sure how it works but I had a thought. Maybe if your club's reputation is so low that the youth players have a reputation high enough to suggest they should be starting, that might be why they're expecting to? A case of all your players having higher reputations than the club? No idea if this is how it works or not, just occurred to me as a possibility. Or something similar maybe

That's not too far fetched i guess, i could see that happening! It'd certainly explain why so many seem to think that they should be in the side. I mean, you never hear about Joe Rothwell marching into Louis van Gaal's office every week asking why he wasn't in the starting lineup for the games against Chelsea and Arsenal.

 

[CraigWL]

OCTOBER 2015


QUEEN'S PARK VS COVE RANGERS (Scottish Cup 2nd Round)

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Three changes for this cup tie as Collins, Winter and Mitchell come in for Ryan Smith, Mathis and Steven Smith. This is one which we really should be coming out of with a win, but after last season's tie with Inverurie, we know that anything can happen.

We made a good start to proceedings, as Sean Burns found his namesake Barry with a whipped in free kick from the left, allowing Barry to volley in with his left foot to make it 1-0. Things were looking bad for us on the injury front, as i subbed Winter off at half time to play it safe as he had a knock, and mere minutes after the restart, Auriemma went off with an injury. It didn't seem to faze us much however, as Sean Burns found the top left corner with a free kick from 25 yards.

We had a perfect opportunity to extend our lead even further when Mitchell threw the ball in to Mathis just inside the right hand side of the box, allowing Mathis to touch the ball past Stirling Smith before being tripped for a penalty. McNab stepped up and placed the ball into the left hand side of the goal to make it 3-0. We couldn't end the match like that though, oh no. Unfortunately, Hardie completely missed his attempt at a header when Stirling Smith booted the ball up the field, allowing Davidson to stride in and find the bottom left corner. It ultimately counted for little however as we went away with a 3-1 win.

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A solid performance, we always looked in control of the game, and i'm happy to be progressing into the next round. The £4k that we received for winning always helps too!

And our draw for the next round...

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A good draw for us, hopefully we replicate the last performance.

Shaun Fraser sadly over exerted himself in the weights room during training a few days after the game and suffered a slipped disc, meaning he will be out for 3-4 months. Not the most important of players to get injured, but i'd like to have as many players fit as possible.

ARBROATH V QUEEN'S PARK (League 2)

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A couple of changes for the visit to Arbroath, as Darren Smith and Steven Smith come in for McNab and Mitchell. We're looking for our 3rd league win in a row here, which would be impressive given our start to the season.

We nearly took the lead in the 14th minute when Berry threaded a lovely through ball to Winter, but his driven shot struck the foot of the post before bouncing out. We would pay for that miss, as Sykes stole in behind the defence to volley home following a Linn free kick. We missed a golden opportunity to equalise just moments later when Whatley's attempted clearance struck Linn after a Steven Smith cross, the ball fell to Burns, who somehow put his shot from 6 yards right into the hands of Crawford. Arbroath were showing no signs of holding back and doubled their lead when Linn headed a Malone cross into the top left corner in the 40th minute.

This was shocking, we were squandering chances and Arbroath simply weren't missing at all. We had another opportunity to score early in the second half as a long ball from Hardie allowed Collins to knock the ball past the incoming challenge of Ross, but he blazed his left footed shot well wide. We finally got on the scoresheet in scrappy fashion when Collins stabbed home after a scramble following Auriemma's saved effort. We came desperately close to an equaliser in the 74th minute when Winter was played in by Collins, but he could only fire at Crawford from a tight angle. Arbroath would once again take advantage of our failings a minute later, when Gunn smashed home from close range following a Linn cross. It would get no better for us, when Sykes was found 6 yards out by McBride, allowing him to tap home with ease.

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While we did deserve to lose that, i don't think it was a 4-1 game. If we had taken our chances we could have snatched a draw in all honesty. Still, 4-1 looks very bad for us, and the result can't be ignored.

QUEEN'S PARK V EAST FIFE (League 2)

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A couple of changes for the visit of East Fife, as Mathis and McVey replace Winter and Darren Smith. We have an annoying habit of drawing against East Fife, hopefully that will change for the positive in this match.

We made a bright start to the game and took the lead when Mathis fired home from 12 yards after the ball was knocked away from Collins by the challenge of Herd. We nearly threw the lead away immediately, but Muir saved brilliantly from a Ramsay shot after Barry Burns took a horrendous touch.

We doubled our lead in the 29th minute when McVey fired a shot from the edge of the box in between Gott and the man on the post following a free kick situation. Things got even better for us late on in the game when Collins was tripped by Stallard as he looked set to score, the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, and also gave Stallard his second yellow card and his marching orders. Coll stepped up, but incredibly put his penalty straight at Gott. However, Sean Burns played the resulting corner to the edge of the box and found Auriemma, who subsequently found the top left corner with a sweet left footed volley to notch his first goal for the club.

We extended our lead further in bizarre fashion, when an early cross by Coll nearly caught out Gott, who just about managed to tip the ball out to the side. Hynes would pick the ball up on the byline and skip past the challenge of a pursuing Gott, before playing the ball to Steven Smith on the edge of the box, who fired a long range shot into an empty net as Gott failed to make it back to his goal.

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A superb performance, dispelling the bad memories of the Arbroath game. Clyde's decision to sack Ferguson was looking like a good one at this point, admittedly. We have had a mixed season so far, but 3rd place is quite good considering everything.

QUEEN'S PARK V PETERHEAD (League 2)

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4 changes for this one, Tierney, McNab, Darren Smith and Marr come in for Mathis, Auriemma, McVey and Steven Smith. This should prove to be a tough game, against recently relegated Peterhead.

It would prove to be that way, and we were lucky not to go down when McAllister was threaded through. His shot from inside the 6 yard box was thankfully saved by the foot of Muir. We came desperately close ourselves just moments later when Tierney rose highest to meet a Sean Burns corner, but could only head onto the bar from close range. Muir again came to our rescue on the stroke of half time, saving a Carrol shot from close range. The second half would pass with little action.

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Not the worst of results in retrospect, but it would have been nice to carry on from our win vs East Fife.

Ryan Tierney is also now unhappy due to a lack of first team football. The thing that baffles me is, i put him in the starting lineup for the last game, THEN he decides to complain? I don't really expect to understand things here anymore, but it really is confusing.

LINLITHGOW ROSE VS QUEEN'S PARK (Scottish Cup 3rd Round)

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Three changes for this game, with Wylie, Auriemma and Steven Smith replacing Sean Burns, Darren Smith and Marr. We had a good opportunity to end the month on a high note here, as a win would book our place in the 4th round of the Scottish Cup.

We started off well, and took the lead after 20 minutes when McNab hit a spectacular scissor kick from 12 yards after Berry found him with a corner. Just over 10 minutes later and we doubled our lead, when Tierney found space at the near post to take down a Smith cross before swiveling and firing his shot into the bottom left corner. We showed no signs of holding back after the break, and bagged a third goal when Wylie headed in from inside the 6 yard box after being found by Smith.

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A thoroughly solid and professional (well, amateur if we're being picky) performance, sealing our spot in the next round, another £6k in the bank too!

Auriemma also took third place in the YPOTM award...

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH

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Barry Burns, barring one dodgy performance against Arbroath, where the whole team was poor, he was in excellent form, proving to be a real rock at the back when called upon.

WORST PLAYER OF THE MONTH

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A little harsh, but Ryan Baptie hasn't been that impressive over the last month. He was very poor against Arbroath, and barring a great game against Linlithgow, he was quite poor in general throughout the month.


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