One of the most popular responses to suggestions that Queens were operating out with their means at present has always been 'How do the rest of the teams in our division manage?'. Mr. Bradford's response last night was, basically, that they can't. I don't want to go too deeply into the affairs of other clubs, but basically it was frightening to hear of the financial predicament of almost every other First Division club. Queens are fortunate not to be in this position yet, and under Mr. Bradford, I believe we have a Chairman strong enough to take the tough decisions necessary to ensure Queen of The South's survival. In the short term, we may suffer on the field of play, but in the long term, the other clubs will realize they need to follow our lead if they are to survive.

Sticking to finance, Mr. Bradford revealed this year's wage bill is £8,000 per week. Given there will be no more than around 30 people sharing this money, I make that about an average of £270 per week, which is around £14,000 per year, or around £900 per month in the hand. That's not a bad full time wage! Added to that the fact the Mr. Bradford reckons we spent £83k more than any other 2nd Division team on wages last year (I wonder if that includes full time Hamilton?), and our wage bill is only £2k per week less than full time Clyde, and it does suggest we are paying too much.

Mr. Bradford believes that Queens can't increase their income to a much higher level than it is at the moment, and I have to agree with him. So, we must cut costs. Suggestions were made of other ways to cut expenses, but, given that wages account for 80% of outgoings, I can see no alternative but to cut the wage bill. I still think we can remain in the First Division, even on a cut playing staff. It was stated last night that Arbroath and Alloa both want to return to Division 2, and I don't see any of the teams likely to come up from Division 2 having the financial clout to do any better than us in Division 1.

Right, enough about boring money, let's talk football. Mr. Connolly defended the tactics at corners, pointing out that in the 7 games since he adopted them, our results have improved. I can't argue with that. He denies it is a negative tactic, pointing out that it has led to quick breaks from defence on many occasions. More interesting was his point that they have also brought in something else at corners, which no one else has noticed (he looked straight at me at that point! :-)). So what is it? He gave us a clue in that he believes Peter Weatherson wouldn't have scored an own goal at St. Mirren had they been using it then. So, as that resulted from Peter turning the ball in at the near post, we must assume it's something about that area. Let's all keep an eye out at the next few games to see if we can spot it.

John was full of praise for Robbie Neilson, who he is desperate to keep, he thinks Robbie Henderson has been unlucky with injury but will look to move on, Paul Shields will want to move on now Sean O'Connor is back, and John Crawford doesn't figure in his plans, so will also be moving on. He didn't particularly want to loose Graeme Armstrong, but feels he wouldn't be ready for the first team for a couple of years and couldn't afford to hold on to him.

Dick Shaw threw in casually that a player had been on trial at Chelsea, so who was that then?

John Connolly admitted that his ambition is to become a full time manager. He also confirmed a story I heard a couple of weeks ago, that he no longer has a full time job, so he is now even keener to go full time. While not saying he was interested in the Ross County job, he didn't actually say he wasn't, as far as I can tell.

Both Connolly and Ronnie were full of praise for everything Andy Goram has done for the club, and think that he gets a bad press, compared to 'wild man' Alan Gray at least!

There was much more than this, but I think I have covered the most interesting bits, and I don't want to bore you (what do you mean, I already have), so I'll stop there. Just my final words through. We all need to take a reality check.