The night of the long knives

[Cresswell]

Thank you Cresswell for pointing out the failure of Scottish football, - and yes we will continue to replicate it ad nauseum.

Let me ask you, jardi, "Are you content to have the failure of Scottish football replicated ad nauseam or would you prefer to see change and improvement?"

[QOS_MAD_ADMIN]

Queens dismal form continues and the fans have their say as to the reason for the decline

1. Skelton not good enough to manage in the Championship
2. The team's fitness is brought into question and extra training sessions is the answer.
3. Big Jim Thomson is to blame due to his touchline antics.


What do you think - discuss

4. Dobbie should be dropped and benched

[jardi]

Cresswell, - of course I want to see change and improvement - that speaks for itself!

Admin, - benching Dobbie is akin to Barcelona placing Messi on the bench, - sheer lunacy!

[QOS_MAD_ADMIN]

I'll deal with your three points in reverse order. 3) No, poor performance on the field is not down to Thomson's touchline antics. That said, it sets a poor example to have him cursing and swearing on the touchline and I certainly think that the club should condemn it loudly and clearly. 2) The team's training/fitness regime is certainly inadequate, but that applies to most if not every team in Scotland. How many of you saw the recent TV series on the state of Scottish football? John Collins who went to play in the French league and Paul Lambert who went to play in the German league each expressed their surprise at the intensity of the training over there compared to training in Scotland. When Collins took over as manager of Hibs he tried to instil the same work ethic into his players and nearly had a revolt on his hands. Some of you may recall Paul le Guen's appointment as manager of Rangers. He immediately condemned the culture in Scottish football but he found the players resistant to change: and to his shame David Murray sided with the players and le Guen was sacked. The players at Palmerston (and elsewhere, of course) are full-time professional footballers. Football and the training that goes with it is their work: football pays their wages. Most of you will work a forty hour week or thereabouts so why shouldn't footballers? Andy Murray's training regime would put most footballers to shame. Indeed, Andy Murray's "warm down" after games is probably more rigorous than a footballer's training. Chris Hoy trained until he literally fell off his training bicycle through exhaustion. Can any of you imagine any footballer training to anywhere near that level of intensity? Nor can I. It is said that practice makes perfect so perhaps a bit more practice would not go amiss. 1) Is Skelton good enough to manage in the Championship? It is probably too early to make a judgement. I would suggest that, while Skelton is no better than most managers, he is no worse either. Few managers have the ability to be innovative: they tend to train players in the same way that they were trained. In other words, most managers simply perpetuate failure. When I was young perceived wisdom was that, unbelievable as this may now seem, players should train without a ball because that made them "hungry for the ball" on a Saturday. This was an absurd theory, of course, but despite all the home nations being given a footballing lesson in the 1950s by a ball playing Hungarian team that view persisted in Scotland until the 1960s when along came a certain Jock Stein. He realised that the way to train for football was to practice ball skills with a ball: and few of you will need reminding how successful he was as a manager.
It is inevitable that Gavin Skelton will be sacked in due course (or move on by mutual agreement, as it is so often put) and it is inevitable that Queens will appoint another manager from the "failure-go-round" who will carry on in a broadly similar manner. Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.

The drink culture and bad diet are also a feature of Scottish Football and Jock Stein being teetotal would not tolerate alcohol consumption which affected players performance. This culture also exists in Scottish Rugby but this is being addressed and we are now competing on the World stage.

[JRSLEFTPEG]

At this time , I would just like to remind you that the national rugby team has been dreadful for donkeys years. They play on the 'world stage' as you put it simply because rugby union isn't as widely played as football.

[Cresswell]

To jardi. Of course it should speak for itself but before we can have change and improvement it is necessary to acknowledge that the current system is broken. It would seem to me that there is a huge reluctance by most contributors to accept that everything in the garden is anything other than rosy. When I demand improvement in Scottish football generally and at Palmerston specifically I am accused of living in a 1950's bubble. As I have said, we reap what we sow.
To QOS_MAD_ADMIN. A manager should always pick his team on current form and not on reputation, but also taking into account the availability of anyone better. On the strength of his recent form I would not be rushing to bring Dobbie back to Palmerston but, that said, I don't think we have anyone who is significantly better than he is. On the basis that he is now here and we have no one better I'd continue to play him.

[QOS_MAD_ADMIN]

At this time , I would just like to remind you that the national rugby team has been dreadful for donkeys years. They play on the 'world stage' as you put it simply because rugby union isn't as widely played as football.

Here are some sobering statistics to consider :

Country Number of Clubs Registered players

England 1,8909 1,990,988
France 1,798 360,847
Ireland 221 153,080
Scotland 251 38,500
Wales 250 50,557
New Zealand 600 146,893

Scotland have reached the semi-final and quarter final of two world cups and won the sevens world cup - Glasgow have also won the Pro 12 championship .
I would consider we are fighting above our weight and can hold our heads high.

[JRSLEFTPEG]

Tell us how many countries that have rugby union their main sport and I will tell you have many do with football ?

[QOS_MAD_ADMIN]

Tell us how many countries that have rugby union their main sport and I will tell you have many do with football ?

This is completely irrelevant - I was merely pointing out the numbers game and what Scottish Rugby are up against when competing at a World level.

[JRSLEFTPEG]

This is completely irrelevant - I was merely pointing out the numbers game and what Scottish Rugby are up against when competing at a World level.

Must be the same in football ( small numbers etc) I think we are only really good at tennis at World level and in that I mean one person. Goodness knows what's going to happen when he retires because there isn't much coming in behind him.