Alba Challenge Cup: Queen of the South v Ross County

It might fly a little under the radar but today's Alba Challenge Cup final is surely a welcome distraction for Ross County and Queen of the South.

County are being tracked by Cowdenbeath at the bottom of the First Division, an unwelcome relegation play-off still a distinct possibility.

Queen of the South are another of our clubs in a financial funk. So grim is the situation that manager Kenny Brannigan has recently engaged in open warfare with his board:

“Things are a total nightmare. Almost every single first team player has been approached by another club between December and now.

“These players are out of a job in the next two months. I have told them to look after themselves and take an offer if they get it. They have kids and mortgages to think about.
“It is a disgrace.

“When you have got the smallest squad in Scotland and are in a cup final and fourth in the first division, it is not the players or the manager to blame. It is the board.” (Dumfries and Galloway Standard)

All of which makes Brannigan's achievement in taking Queens to fourth in the First Division, with third place not out of reach, all the more admirable.

Understandably both Brannigan and Ross County manager Jimmy Calderwood have painted today as a break from the tribulations of the season. This is a cup final football as a footballing stress ball.

Let's hope that the manager's can convey that to their players, allowing them the sense of freedom that will reward beleaguered fans with a game worthy of a national cup final.

They might, unfortunately, not get a huge amount of help from the pitch. McDiarmid Park has been the victim of some harsh conditions since this game was originally snowed off in November. It's showing the strain.

League positions suggest Queen of the South are favourites. The three clashes so far this season confirm that with the Dumfries' biblical superstars enjoying two wins and a draw in three league games.

But a cup final win might go some way to convincing the doubters that Calderwood is the right man to steer Ross County through troubled waters towards the end of the season.

And a trophy would be lend much articulacy to the fight to secure a viable future for Queen of the South.

People might not take much notice of it. But both sides have more than just a trophy to play for today.

Queen of the South: Dumfries Despair

Another day, another dollar.

Or, more accurately, another story about the lack of dollars in the Scottish game.

Queen of the South's financial plight, already an open secret, has been confirmed in the club's latest accounts.

A loss of £1.2 million - up from £750,000 the previous year - is compounded by a drop in net assets from £500,000 to £82,000.

Even I, proudly possessing the financial acumen of an innumerate spendthrift, can tell that this situation is grim.

Dumfries' finest are not alone, too many clubs seem to be in a perpetual state of impecunious meltdown.

But £1.2 million?

Seems a hell of a lot of money.

The directors say they've got plans to return to profitability but also concede that the accounts point to:

"material uncertainty which casts significant doubt upon the company's ability to continue as a going concern." (BBC)

As Dumfries' most famous former resident wrote "prudent, cautious, self-control
is wisdom's root."

But it's not as if Palmerston Park has seen the unsustainable arrival of expensive signings of late.

This is a solid club with a long history and a stable position in the first division alongside that 2008 Scottish Cup final appearance and a flirtation with Europe the following season.

But still it's hard to see where a sound plan for a speedy return to health can come from.

The desperation of their plight might make clubs like Queen of the South more amenable to talk of league mergers and SPL reconstruction.

Let's hope, then, that the SPL have more than dreams to back up their assurance of future happiness for all.

> Find out more about what the fans are doing to help at the Queens Trust

Another SFA cock-up

It’s a prophecy I am not proud of. Yesterday I commented on another website about the ludicrous rule that meant both Tam McManus and Stephen Glass would not be allowed to play for Dunfermline in the Scottish Cup Final.

McManus was an unused substitute for Falkirk earlier in the competition and Glass had performed the same role for Hibs.

Dunfermline had seen light at the end of the tunnel when it emerged that Queen of the South had played Jamie Adams in two ties after he had warmed the bench for Kilmarnock when they lost to Morton.

Yesterday I said the SFA should rescind the rule but that I felt they were more likely to punish Queen of the South. I was half joking. Today it has emerged that they will not allow McManus or Glass to play. They will however investigate the Adams case and Queen of the South may face censure - although they offered no explanation about how they missed it at the time.

Sometimes they just astound you.

McCall over bar the shouting

Another season, another club, another departure.

Just what is wrong with Ian McCall?

His “amicable” split with Queen of the South marks the end of his sixth spell in management.

It is suggested that his next stop will be Partick Thistle. Which seems obvious enough because Thistle are a club crying out for a manager that seems to offer no stability whatsoever.

Clydebank (during which time they tried to move to Dublin), Airdrie (the last manager in their history), Morton (too expensive), Falkirk (jumped ship after 30 games), Dundee United (28 games won, 40 games lost) and Queen of the South (different ambitions from the board). Six clubs, six departures, no periods of stability.

Now, there is bad luck, there are misunderstandings and there are personality clashes.

But McCall seems to attract all three with unerring regularity.

Yet still he gets jobs. He’s underachieved as a manager as he underachieved as a player but a scary number of clubs seem to want his services.

Why?

Firstly, and it’s only my theory, McCall is a media darling. He lives in Glasgow’s West End which remains Scotland’s media centre. He’s the BBC’s main analyst despite having the incredible ability to make one pine for the commentary of Jock Brown.

But the media deem McCall a character: this relates to anecdotes from his playing days when he first defecated from a step ladder at Rangers (leading Graeme Souness to boot him out) and then defecated in player-manager Simon Stainrod’s shoe at Falkirk (what boot Stainrod kicked him out with is unclear).

Clearly this is a classy guy with a frightening level of sophistication.

Secondly, Scotland is a small country. That’s why the same actors appear in Take the High Road, Taggart and River City. And it’s why the same managers keep cropping up at different clubs. And, to short sighted club directors, McCall is attractive because of the high media profile that his moments of comedy excellence have so deservingly brought him.

So McCall keeps getting jobs and fans keep getting promised great things only to be awarded with mediocrity and abrupt departures.

But perhaps anyone hunting for new managers should study McCall’s comments yesterday: "The First Division is not easy, and will be even harder next year."

The challenge is never quite so appealing when you know the BBC will keep you in beer money.