| Arachnophilia |
| Welcome to the new column of the Queen's Park Fan Site - Arachnophilia. |
| The new season is nearly upon us and once again we are wondering what this new season will bring, and today I will share my thoughts on that with you. Last season we finished with some good players in the squad, and it was great to see so many re-signing. This squad has since been added to by Kenny Brannigan and his new signings look very capable too. All the squad seems to be lacking now is a forward with height and physical presence (and, of course, good goal-scoring ability), something we are now lacking with the departure of John Gemmell. KB, however, has been seeking to rectify this - he has had Ally Graham (released by Hamilton at the end of last season) on trial with Queen's in recent weeks and a decision is set to be made on Wednesday on whether he will be part of next season's squad. With a squad such as this, Queen's should be challenging for promotion, if not the title, over the next 10 months. We have kept the nucleus of last season's team - a team that at times played very well together. Steven Fallon, Steven Moffat, Damiano Agostini and Richard Sinclair did very well for us in defence last season and I have little doubt that this can continue this season. Agostini in particular played very well against Hearts a couple of weeks ago, making several last-ditch tackles on Hearts forwards. Keep an eye on QP for the "Best Division 3 Defence" award. One thing, however, may stand in our way of success this season and that is the issue of goal scoring. We know all about this of course - failure to score enough goals cost us our Second Division status three seasons ago. By all accounts the team have been creating a great many chances in the friendlies this pre-season, but not counting the game in Arran they have only scored three goals in six games, and have even missed two penalties. Chances, though, are being created and (for the most part) against higher class opposition, so there is definitely hope yet. Look out for Queen's to be having a good few 1-0 wins next season. In short, then, Queen's for the Division Three title again! We're not away to Cowdenbeath on the last day, but never mind. Here's my prediction of how the league will finish: 1) Queen's Park 2) Peterhead 3) Gretna 4) Stranraer 5) Albion Rovers 6) Stirling Albion 7) Elgin City 8) Cowdenbeath 9) Montrose 10) East Stirlingshire And on this happy note, I will leave you to your own thoughts on the coming season. I'll be back with another Arachnophilia in due course. |