| ALLEZ LES HOOPS |
| Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it does - and in painful fashion. Last week's display against Albion Rovers, in comparison, resembled that of Brazil's Word Cup winning team of 1970. OK, so maybe that's a little bit of a hyperbolic statement but none the less, what the fans saw at Hampden was a skeletal team being shaken by a decent Stirling Albion side. At times it was frustrating to see so many basic errors being committed, so many passes going astray, so little communication between the players. I wouldn't be as critical if I saw something that could be construed as positive, but there really wasn't anything to take from this game. Is playing football the way to succeed at this level? Maybe it's not as important as some think. After all, East Fife won promotion last term with football that could only be positively described as direct. Stirling Albion, yesterday, had a fine balance of football players (McLean and O'Brien) and stoppers (McNally and Rowe). I don't think Queen's have that equilibrium at present. Sure, there are good footballers at the club, but they don't seeming to be gelling as well as they perhaps should be. Instead, Queen's were disjointed, worringly so, the midfield completely breaking down, the defence all over the place and they seemed to have no real prospect of a goal. The 3-5-2 formation was torn apart yesterday. Ferry and trialist Thompson didn't look completely aware of their roles and as a result Stirling exploited the wings with worrying ease. The midfield was disappointingly invisible. In fact, towards the end of the game, the tactic of midfield back to Sinclair to hoof up to the striker was far too predictable for the Stirling team to be caught out with. It's all very well saying that key players were missing, but the squad is far too shallow to succeed on a regular basis. The team had suspensions yesterday, but that's hardly the fault of the fans who were visibly disturbed at some of the attempts of football that were being played and Brannigan can't really be blamed in that respect either. But if frustration is going to set in so easily as it did yesterday and last week, then maybe - if Brannigan had the luxury of a large squad - some players should be dropped. Stirling Albion aren't a great team, but they are very good at what they do and that is grabbing goals and keeping them, which was the formula last season (with the exception of the 3-3 game).They have a good mixture of youth and experience, kickers and players and currently, that's all this division needs to be conquered. The team have a break after the Inverness game to fix the problems and I believe they can do so, but unless more patience is shown on the park, the fans can't be blamed for feeling angry off it. Derek Scrimgour: Helpless for both goals, and had no help from his defence. Dealt with crosses fairly well, apart from one heart-in-mouth flap. 6 Danny Ferry: Back on the right, looked more comfortable, but caught out quite a bit, recovering well at times. 6 John Thompson: A decent attacking showing, but indecisive defensively on the left and that's what mattered yesterday. 6 Richard Sinclair: Solid, but part of a ragged defence which completely self-destructed after the first goal. 6 Steven Moffat: Looking unsure at the back which is an alarming sign as he is potentially one of the best footballers at the club. 6 Steven Fallon: At fault for the first goal, made a superb last ditch tackle at the end, but by then it scarcely mattered. Can play better. 6 Ross Clark: Without out sounding too harsh, he could have still been in Germany for most of yesterday's game for all we saw of him. Not as influential as he should be. 5 Stephen Canning: Like Clark, hardly involved and lost his concentration often in midfield or simply didn't feature at all. We needed him yesterday to drive forward and give the attackers support, but it didn't happen. 5 Replaced by Gallagher who had no real chance to make an impression. 5 Steven McAuley: A bit of a shocker from McAuley who should have laid on Carcary at the beginning of the second half. If he had, the unmarked youngster would have certainly scored and maybe Queen's could have received a little boost. He decided to go it alone and didn't even trouble Morrison in the Stirling goal. Had no support either, though, for a lot of the match. 5 Replaced by Menelaws late on. 5 Jonny Whelan: Tried to fire up his fellow players but nothing came of it. A typical gritty midfield display, but can't be expected to carry the midfield on his own. 7 Derek Carcary: Showed some flashes of brilliance, but had no support and was often muscled off the ball by Rowe and McNally. 6 Replaced by Dunning. 5 Man of the Match: Jonny Whelan Match Rating: No Stars |