[NoSkillz]

Meet Your 2018-19 Queen’s Park FC Spiders!

-- We head into our season opening Betfred Cup match Spartans FC with 37 first team players, an absolutely ridiculous number and one that I will be looking to reduce by at least ten, if not more. Here's a look at a breakdown of our senior team along with notes on our reserves and key U18 personnel. Preferred starters are noted in bold.


GOALKEEPERS -
Jordan Hart, 22 years old, 4.5/5.0
Joe McGovern, 24 years old, 2.5/4.5

IN: Jordan Hart (Ayr - Free), Joe McGovern (Cowenbeath - Free)
OUT: Jack Dunlop (Released)

Hart, who started 25 games for League One club Ayr last year, is arguably our best player. He will get at least 75% of our starts. McGovern is a capable backup who played well in our friendlies and was an upgrade over Jack Dunlop. Goaltending is a team strength, without question.


DEFENDERS -
Izhaak Ahmed - DC, 18 years old, 3.5/4.0
Cammy Foy – DC, 20 years old, 2.5/3.5
Ross Gilmour – DR, 24 years old, 2.5/4.0
James Grant - DR, 18 years old, 3.0/4.0
Gavin Lachlan – DR, 26 years old, 2.5/3.0
Sam Lidington- DL, 21 years old, 2.5/3.0
Lewis Magee – DC, 18 years old, 2.5/4.0
Kyle McDowell – DL, 19 years old, 2.0/4.0
Dom McLaren – DC, 21 years old, 2.0/4.0
Gerry McLauchlan – DC, 29 years old, 2.5/2.5
Daniel Nimmo - DC, 22 years old, 3.0/4.0
Ian Stokes – DR, 19 years old, 2.5/3.5
Ciaran Summers - DL, 23 years old, 3.0/4.5

IN: Izhaak Ahmed (Rangers - Free), Ross Gilmour (Stenhousemuir - Free), Sam Lidington (Stranraer – Free), Kyle McDowell (Ross County – Free), Dom McLaren (Kilbirnie Ladeside – Free), Ian Stokes (Partick Thistle – Free)
OUT: Scott Gibson (Stirling – Free)

Ahmed and Nimmo are the starters in the middle and we have capable backups in Cammy Foy, Lewis Magee, Dom McLaren and Gerry McLaughlan. At fullback, Summers and Grant will start and we’ve added tons of depth, with Gilmour, Lachlan, Lidington, McDowell and Stokes available as backups. We likely have two or three players too many right now and will need to pare this down a bit within the next couple weeks.


MIDFIELDERS -
Amin Bouzaig – AMC, 21 years old, 3.0/3.0
Malky Breen – MC, 16 years old, 3.0/4.0
Brian Donaldson – AMR, 16 years old, 3.5/4.0
Gregor Fotheringham – DM, 24 years old, 2.5/4.0
Conor Langton – MR, 19 years old, 3.0/4.0
Kyle MacDonald – MC, 18 years old, 2.5/4.5 (ON LOAN)
Adam Martin – AML, 20 years old, 2.5/3.5
Jamie McKernon – MC, 26 years old, 4.0/4.0
Scott McLean – AMR, 20 years old, 2.5/4.0
Dominic McMeekin – AMC, 19 years old, 2.5/4.0
Ali Miller – MR, 19 years old, 2.0/2.0
Smart Osadolar – AML, 27 years old, 2.5/3.0
Kurtis Roberts - AMC, 23 years old, 4.0/5.0
James Stokes – AML, 19 years old, 2.0/4.0
Dylan Thomas - MC, 21 years old, 3.0/4.0
Derek Young – MC, 38 years old, 3.0/3.0

IN: Amin Bouzaig (Free), Malky Breen (Free), Brian Donaldson (Free), Conor Langton (Falkirk – Free), Kyle MacDonald (Motherwell – LOAN), Adam Martin (Alloa – Free), Jamie McKernon (Glenafton – Free), Scott McLean (Albion Rovers – Free), Dominic McMeekin (Dundee United – Free), Smart Osadolar (Clyde – Free), Kurtis Roberts (Kilbirnie Ladeside – Free), James Stokes (Partick Thistle – Free), Dylan Thomas (Aberdeen – Free), Derek Young (Formartine United – Free)
OUT: Dan Kindlan (Released), Dean Kindlan (Released)

We have entirely too many players here but we plan on going with multiple formations this year, with some including wingers and some not. Still, I need to reduce our midfielder count by four or five players at least. Jamie McKernon and Kurtis Roberts represent excellent quality and we have a couple of other solid central midfielders in Malky Breen, Dylan Thomas and veteran Derek Young. We are very weak on the wings, with only 16 year old Brian Donaldson looking above average.


STRIKERS -
Lewis Hawke – ST, 24 years old, 2.0/4.0
Connor Higgins – ST, 18 years old, 3.5/4.0
Ewan MacPherson – ST, 19 years old, 2.5/4.0
Billy Mortimer – ST, 21 years old, 2.5/4.0
Josh Peters – ST, 21 years old, 3.5/4.0
Brendan Sharpe – ST, 21 years old, 2.0/3.5

IN: Lewis Hawke (from FC Bulleen Lions – Free), Connor Higgins (from Partick Thistle – Free), Josh Peters (from Forfar – Free)
OUT: Euan East (Released)

Josh Peters is the star up front and he plays the “Pressing Forward” role perfectly. MacPherson dazzled in our last pre-season game and will get a chance to ride shotgun in the early goings with Peters as a poacher in two forward formations. Young Connor Higgins is interesting but may need some time in our reserves or with our U18s before getting action with the main squad.


RESERVE TEAM -

None at the moment...we will utilize backups from the Senior Team and U18'ers for the reserves this season.


U18 SQUAD -

GK Elliot Anderson, DR Sam Robertson, DR Cameron Lumsden, DR Rhys Scullion, DC Harry Granger, DC Tom McLaren, DL Ross Fleming, WBR Craig McManus, DM Kyle Devlin, MC Kieran Balfour, MC Taylor Berry, MC Calvin McGrory, ML Mark Joseph, ST Jamie Docherty, ST Kieran Moore, ST David Fraser

We actually have some solid talent here, with all of these players being new signings. Robertson, Scullion, Berry and Joseph all have the ability to step in right now with our senior team but are blocked by better players at the moment.


PLAYERS AWAY ON LOAN -

None


-- Again, we will need to make some cuts here to get our squad down to a more reasonable number of players. I think we've made some improvements at key areas and we will be moving forward with two main formations this year: the 4-2-3-1 and a 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond (no wingers).


-- My main goal for the season is to be in the race for promotion in league play. I'm not overly concerned about cup play at the moment but we'll see what happens as the season progresses...



Next Up -

-- I make my official debut as manager, as we begin Betfred Cup group stage play (Scotland League Cup), hosting Lowland League club Spartans at Hampden Park.