| CLUB NEWS |
| 2 January Queen's Park vs. Albion Rovers A decimated squad goes into tomorrow's game with Albion Rovers having not set foot on a league park for three weeks. Of course, there have been various bounce / Strollers matches in that time but it would be no surprise if there was a certain rustiness about the Queen's team. Then again, the chance to play again after a long break should give the players plenty of motivation - to get out there and enjoy their football again. While Kenny Brannigan reportedly was looking to strengthen the pool ahead of tomorrow it seems likeliest that he'll have to stick with what he's got - and that isn't very much. The figure of four players suspended exposes the indiscipline problems in the team - Sinclair, Kettlewell, Carroll and Scrimgour are all out - while Agostini and Clark, recovering from hamstring pulls, may be forced to play even if not entirely fit. Having said that, both should make it OK. Allan Dunning - a forgotten man around Hampden - has broken his collarbone, so at least there's now an official reason for not picking him. And Derek Carcary, hurt in a friendly with Dumbarton last Saturday, emerged with no serious damage, and will be fit in a couple of weeks. Thankfully, some players have regained full health in time for tomorrow - Steven Fallon and Steven Moffat will both play, and Brian McCue and Tony Quinn are now not too far away. What is interesting to note is that David McCallum is the latest player to have disappeared from the scene. For weeks now, his name has not been mentioned by the club's official website when detailing team news for the upcoming games, and while we've been led to believe he is injured, I have no idea when he is likely to return to the side. Rovers themselves have not played for some time and prior to that had been turning in some dire performances, including elimination from the Scottish Cup by Montrose, a result which led to Peter Hetherston calling it quits. Without him and Jock things can never quite be the same, but as soon as the first full-blooded tackle goes in tomorrow afternoon you'll know that this is a Queen's Park vs. Albion Rovers match. 27 December Bounce match loss Queen's were comfortably beaten at Lesser this afternoon by Dumbarton, 3-0, in a friendly, arranged as neither team had a first-team fixture scheduled. A relatively strong side was fielded, with numerous substitutes, but, far worse than the irrelevant defeat, Derek Carcary had to be removed to hospital following a clash with the Dumbarton goalkeeper. With the player soon likely on the verge of more involvement in the first-team, any serious injury could not have been more inopportune. We wish Del all the best. In addition, former player Kevin McGoldrick was tried out as a substitute, not the first time he's been fielded in a meaningless Queen's game since leaving the club three years ago. At a time when the club is crying out for new players, the wisdom of bringing back into the fold someone from the past, however good a player he was then, could be doubted. Its a tactic the club employed many times under John McCormack and it worked in some cases ( Whelan, Finlayson etc. ). However, simply going for the safe option is not enough; Queen's require a large breath of fresh air. Fixture update: with Stranraer having lost their cup-tie against Hamilton 1-0, our home game with them is likely, pending the incompetencies of the parties concerned, to go ahead on 10th January. 21 December Stranraer match postponed The calling-off of yesterday's Stranraer-Hamilton Scottish Cup tie has led it to its rescheduling for next Saturday, meaning that our own home fixture with the Stair Park club will need to be re-arranged. Queen's will thus have gone three weeks without a game before they meet Albion Rovers on 3rd January, but games with Rovers are worth even that length of wait. The most sensible day for the Stranraer game to take place would be 10 January, provided, of course, that Hamilton knock them out. 13 December Peterhead 4 Queen's Park 1 - depressing A scrappy affair ended with an easy win for the home side, and Queen's dropped back down to eighth place in the league. Typically though, the referee had far too major an input into proceedings, sending off Derek Scrimgour for a supposed professional foul to the rage of a travelling support who had a perfect view of the incident, and calling several other decisions wrongly over the course of the game. Thus on the whole, we saw nothing we haven't already seen a hundred times before. Roll on Christmas. 7 December Graham to jump ship? Is Ally Graham set to become the new Albion Rovers manager? The Sunday Mail think so, breaking the story today - despite Kevin McAllister's interim appointment last week. There's not a great deal more to say, except to ask Ally not to leave yet, as we need you for the rest of the season - especially if you play like you did yesterday. 6 December Queen's Park 3 East Stirlingshire 0 This win comes as a big relief to everyone concerned with the club, after a difficult few weeks which led some to suggest Shire may have a decent chance of getting something from the game. But those who were at Links Park on Tuesday evening saw a much more spirited Queen's team than before and they carried on their determination into today's game, roaring at East Stirling from the start and being rewarded with Ally Graham's early strike, his first league goal for the club. Graham and McAuley linked-up superbly throughout and Ally set up both of McAuley's goals as Shire fell apart. Queen's seemed complacent in defence at times, but in midfield and up front possessed too much quality for a beleaguered visiting team. The one concern from the day was an injury to Ross Clark, who seemed to twist his knee during the second-half and had to be replaced by Stuart Kettlewell. But it was the only black spot on a day which saw Queen's leapfrog Albion Rovers, beaten 2-1 at Peterhead, into 7th place - and it feels strangely good. 22 November Stirling Albion 3 Queen's Park 1 - abject dismissal from the cup A spineless second-half showing from Queen's allowed Stirling Albion to progress to a second round tie with Arbroath, yet at half-time we were in front and looking good after a passionate performance from the players. Granted, the football being played was far from vintage, but it had been effective enough and we looked capable of frustrating, as the previous week, an always dangerous Stirling side. But this belief was merely a house of cards that fell spectacularly after half-time; Rowe, O'Brien and Kelly buried us with simple goals and the perpetual inquest into why we can't achieve anything under Kenny Brannigan just goes on. See the match report for more ( though you'll need a strong stomach and no long-term health difficulties ). While we're on the subject, if you do suffer from that incurable disease known as Obsessive Queen's Park Disorder you'll be gutted to know that we won't be playing next Saturday; Montrose, our prospective opponents, drew their cup match with Albion Rovers and the replay is scheduled for 29th November. Whether that means we face a midweek trek to northern Angus at some stage is unclear at the moment. 21 November Stirling Albion vs. Queen's Park - Tennents' Scottish Cup First Round Given such quirks as Spartans and Buckie Thistle being drawn together, East Stirling getting a bye to the second round ( ! ) and Morton being drawn at home to Vale of Leithen ( in the second round ), Queen's can consider themselves unfortunate to have drawn such a tough tie against a side who lead the Third Division with ease. Stirling have already seen the Spiders off twice, winning 1-0 last week and 2-0 at Hampden in August, though on neither occasion were they all that impressive. Losing last week in particular should have the Queen's players fully motivated to winning tomorrow, as they did not deserve to lose the game despite a pedestrian performance. With a larger crowd in attendance and no other concerns of a footballing nature getting in the way, plus the extra ingredient Queen's seem to possess in cup-ties, a much more invigorating game is to be expected but not necessarily a happier outcome. There may well be changes to the starting XI from last week, with Steven Reilly back in contention after suspension. But Paul Harvey is unlikely to play, and unless Kenny Brannigan has been convinced that Derek Carcary is what we need up front, the youngster may not even make the match squad. Incidentally tomorrow's match referee is the little-known Martin Sproule, and if there is no winner tomorrow, then the replay will take place at Hampden on Wednesday at 7.30 p.m. 15 November Stirling Albion 1 Queen's Park 0 - unable to hold out A defensively-minded Queen's Park failed in their attempt to constrain Stirling Albion at Forthbank, conceding in stoppage time at the end to lose once again at our least favourite venue. The early kick-off did no side either favours, and the overall standard of play was poor, with complete incoherence not uncommon at times. Queen's, despite being content to counter-attack, did perhaps carve out the majority of the chances, but failed to capitalise on them; Johnny Whelan's miss with only 9 minutes left being perhaps the defining moment before the winner went in. To add insult to injury for a reduced travelling support, Queen's had played out the closing stages with a man advantage following a Stirling injury ( they had used all 3 subs ). A point away at the league leaders would have been encouraging even allowing for the continuing lack of goals: but it would not have glossed over another laboured performance - and tactically speaking, questions must be asked over Kenny Brannigan's approach to the game. A full match report will be online tomorrow. 14 November Stirling Albion vs. Queen's Park Tomorrow we face what could be our toughest league game of the season so far, when Queen's travel to Forthbank. Scoring just two goals in the last three games, Queen's will have to pull off something special to defeat a Stirling side which has made a tremendous start to the season. The last time we played the top placed side we were convincingly beaten 2-0 at home. But tomorrow is an away clash and the Spiders always manage to compete well away from Hampden, so maybe we can cause an upset and score a big win. We're already slipping away from the top-half of the table, despite it only being November, so results will have to pick up fast if we want to achieve a higher placing than last season. On the injury front, veteran Paul Harvey is still out with a hamstring pull, as is David McCallum, who is suffering with a back injury. Richard Sinclair will also be missing, after he injured his groin in last week's game against Cowdenbeath. Steven Reilly is out through suspension but Stuart Kettlewell should be fit to start. 13 November Transfer window revamp With immediate effect, all clubs in the Scottish League will be allowed to sign two players outwith the transfer window periods, the SFA today confirmed. It's merely the latest of a series of changes that have been made to the window regulations since they were introduced, leading many to the inevitable conclusion that they are a total waste of space. It's unlikely at the moment that Kenny Brannigan should want to add to his current squad in any case. 12 November Menelaws finds club David Menelaws, released within the last fortnight, has signed for lowly Junior outfit Lanark United. There had been interest from Maryhill, of the West Superleague, but Menelaws felt Lanark had the greater desire for his services and so took the chance of dropping to the First Division of the Central League. There was no mystery over his exit from Hampden - he hadn't been playing well, he was dropped, knew he wouldn't get back in, and asked to leave. But Davie is well capable of scoring a decent amount at Junior level. 8 November Queen's Park 0 Cowdenbeath 0 - will ye no score again? It's now just two goals in the last five for Queen's, both of which were scored at Elgin, and only East Stirling have found the net less. Last season the basic problem was a failure to convert chances. This season we're not even making those opportunities for ourselves, and its the basic cause of the team's recent form. Once more there was a shortage of quality play from a directionless team, but the tragedy is that we now expect nothing more. However, unlike last week, Queen's could realistically have won the game despite their lacklustre display, and had Steven Canning any composure in front of goal, would have done. Anyway, we bid farewell to Hampden for four weeks and set off on a sojourn taking us to Stirling, Stirling again and Montrose. Not our favourite grounds in any sense, and next week's atmosphere is likely to be even staler than normal at Forthbank; but we'll take this chance to confirm that The Queen's Park Fansite, unlike the club themselves it appears, will be putting Queen's Park first next week and will have the usual full coverage. We shouldn't be playing next Saturday, but we are; so if you support Queen's Park, try and put them ahead of Scotland irrespective of how poor we've been recently and how big the Holland game may be. 1 November Queen's Park 0 Gretna 1 - beaten by a better team Not that the above headline implies a gallant, brave Queen's Park team going down to defeat; we were far from either of those things. Gretna seem, slowly but surely, to be patching a promotion-capable team together, but they were helped no end in their aim of winning this game by Queen's's ineptitude. Far too often we gave away the ball, allowed Gretna players acres of space, particularly on the wings, and that the goal did not come until ten minutes remained was not reflective of the balance of play. Martin Cameron's towering header from a corner sealed Queen's Park's fate and left us reflecting on a fifth straight home game without a win. 31 October Queen's Park vs. Gretna While this weekend may mark the 100th anniversary of our very own National Stadium, only the Queen's Park players can make it a special one, and beating Gretna would be the best way in which to do it. Queen's's recent play has been ragged, but Gretna's has steadily improved, their win over Peterhead last week lifting them into fourth place. Stuart Kettlewell comes back into contention for a place in the team, but Steven Reilly has paid for his lack of self-control with the one-match ban he will serve tomorrow. Kettlewell could thus be a straight replacement for him. Paul Harvey has a hamstring injury and substitute goalkeeper Brian McCue hurt his ankle in midweek, so young David Crawford may be on the bench again as cover for Derek Scrimgour. The main news on the eve of the Gretna match is the release of David Menelaws by Kenny Brannigan. The player had made a wretched start to the season, missing easy chances against Albion Rovers and Montrose, and displaying a lack of confidence which only seemed to be compounded. Under pressure from the emergence of Derek Carcary and Stephen McAuley, and further pushed down the ranks after Frankie Carroll's return, Menelaws had been reduced to the role of bit-part player in recent weeks and it was hard to see how he could resume his role in the side. Signed from East Stirling during the summer of 2002 while still nursing a broken leg, John McCormack's high hopes for Menelaws were never fulfilled though he was able to score three goals last season, following his debut against Albion Rovers in a Scottish Cup tie on 4th January. Menelaws never quite fitted into the scheme of things, though he clearly possessed a turn of speed and decent positional sense. His last game in Queen's colours came during Tuesday night's Strollers game at Ayr, when he actually scored in a 2-2 draw. What chance now that East Stirling will take him back? 25 October Elgin City 2 Queen's Park 2 - so nearly won, so nearly lost A remarkable last ten minutes at Borough Briggs salvaged what had been a squalid match and almost brought about an astonishing victory for Queen's Park. Substitutes Gallagher and McAuley capitalised on shaky defending to overturn Willie Martin's first-half goal, and had it not been for Jim White's dubious challenge on Scrimgour in the third minute of stoppage time, we would have claimed an unlikely three points. Queen's remain seventh in the league. 24 October Elgin City vs. Queen's Park Queen's season appears now to have settled down into mediocrity, with defeats at the hands of all the four top clubs hinting strongly our inferiority to these teams. Success for this season is unlikely to better a top-half finish, but for the dedicated supporter every single game matters, and to see some truly enthralling games between now and May - like we did last season - would go a long way to compensate for the failure of the team to get out of their inconsistent rut. Elgin away is not renowned for being such a memorable fixture, but given current circumstances tomorrow's match has some potential. For a start Elgin have been shipping goals at an alarming rate - eight more than even East Stirling - as David Robertson's attacking game plans have backfired spectacularly. A far cry indeed from the side who opted to nullify any Queen's threat in our game there at April instead of attempting to come forward themselves, and it worked for them in a 0-0 draw. Things were far more entertaining in the Hampden match on 9 August, when Queen's gave a flowing performance to win 5-2, and since then Elgin has been noted for their team's generosity in defence far more than any marbles or nonsense like that. And, just to prove that sanity isn't in short supply at Borough Briggs, they've decided to bring Andy Goram back from fitness-free obscurity. Flung in for last week's home match with Albion Rovers, Goram admitted himself at fault for 'two of the goals' which probably means that at least 4 were lost because of him. No need to elaborate on Goram's career; the only question is why he's still prepared to demean himself at this age. But it certainly increases the humour value. Stuart Kettlewell is suspended for tomorrow's game after his mystifying dismissal at Stair Park last Saturday, during which Carroll and Agostini also made comebacks. So Kenny Brannigan has plenty of players to pick from and might elect to tamper with a team that underperformed last week. Queen's Park record against Elgin City in the league stands as follows: Played 9, Won 4, Drawn 3, Lost 2. |