[FM21] Queen's Park FC - "Amateur Hour is Over"

[GylfiAsCharged]

Queen's Park FC

 

Queen's Park FC were founded in 1867, giving them the title of the oldest football club outside of England.

Having remarkably played in the Scotland's Professional football leagues while retaining their amateur status for many years, in November 2019 the club's members voted to move on from this lifelong amateur status following the departures of several key players (like Scotland internationals Andy Robertson and Lawrence Shankland) without any compensation. However, they didn't just become semi-professional, in FM21 at least they are the only fully professional team among semi-professional teams in their league. This coincides with the sale of Hampden Park to the Scottish FA for £5m, agreed back in September 2018, so it is a period of significant change for the club nicknamed 'The Spiders'.

Many will see this as a sad end to a unique tradition, I dare say many FM players like myself see it as an exciting opportunity to climb the leagues and possibly challenge the existing footballing duopoly in the city of Glasgow, and challenging at the top with this famous old club.

While the club's training ground which sits immediately to the west of Hampden Park, Lesser Hampden, is being converted to a fully certified stadium with a seating capacity of 1,774, the club will remain at the larger arena for the first season of FM21, though their professional status is in place immediately and they are tipped by bookmakers to run away with the Scottish League Two title, with preseason odds of 1/91.

The 51,866 all-seater Hampden Park, home to Queen's Park FC from 1903 to 2021.

 

Plans for Lesser Hampden's extended West Stand, the home of Queen's Park from the 2021-22 season.

Plans for Lesser Hampden's brand new East Stand, with the club's former home visible in the background.

Club overview page, showing off their rather garish away kit for the 2020-21 season.

Facilities Overview, mainly referring to Hampden Park but also detailing their move to Lesser Hampden.

Club Introduction received upon taking the job.

Edited November 24, 2020 by GylfiAsCharged

[GylfiAsCharged]

The Squad

 

Goalkeepers

Cammy Bell is the obvious number one for the first season, he looks extremely dependable for this level, though his best years are behind him, he looks like he's got at least one more good year in the locker. Bell is vastly experienced at a higher level than this. A mainstay for many years at top-flight Kilmarnock, he won his one and only full Scotland cap against the Faroe Islands during this spell, he dropped down to League One to help Rangers rise back up the divisions before continuing to hop around the top two leagues as a dependable free agent for a few years before arriving at Queen's Park. Wullie Muir is serviceable back-up to Bell who has had previous stints at the club, punctuated by brief spells at semi-pro teams. He's a good enough back-up at this level but if you achieve the expectations of winning the league this year, he's probably not one who comes along for the ride long-term, aged 27 and will little room left for development. Jacques Heraghty is the only under-18 player at the club, he looks to have reasonable potential but if the club is to develop over the next few years he will likely struggle to challenge for the starting berth. He's really not much worse than Muir at this stage and could well surpass him as backup within the first season.

 

Defenders

There are plenty of options at right back, though a couple are perhaps more suited to playing in midfield, Lee Kilday can play there and centre-back and will probably be my pick for the first season. Michael Doyle is an able deputy, his low technique may limit his effectiveness in contributing to attacks, but he has pretty solid defensive and physical stats for the level, and a nice set of mental stats too. Much of his career was spent at Scottish Championship level so he has good pedigree. He's not flashy, but definitely better than this level. Assistant manager Laurie Ellis remarkably reckons that Canice Carroll is the club's best centre-back, right-back, defensive midfielder, central midfielder and right midfielder, while Darren Lyon is another versatile option probably suited better to the midfield. Peter Grant is a good old-fashioned centre back with solid defensive stats and excellent mental stats. The left footer is a great leader, and seems an obvious choice as the left centre back if playing a back four, which this team seems well equipped for. Tommy Robson looks an ideal candidate to start at left-back, with a fair bit to offer in attack too with good crossing and work rate stats. The former Sunderland youngster spent the past three years playing in the Scottish Championship and aged 24 he can probably kick on a bit too, another player who is above this level and is good enough to help you get that league title and promotion. Like most of the starters though, he's only on a one-year deal so while he has potential to grow into, sadly that will probably be elsewhere if you can't agree a new deal with him. Brody Paterson is hidden in the reserve team initially, he joins from Celtic on loan for a year to provide left-back cover. While he doesn't stand out in this team he's not out of his depth in League Two, with his standout attribute being his pace. Stuart Morrison is a centre-back who came through at Dunfermline and played 7 games for Queen's Park on loan last season before moving on a free, the comparison to other defenders at the club that influences the star rating really doesn't flatter him as the 22-year-old actually looks pretty promising and possibly worth trying to tie down beyond one year contract. 

 

Central Midfielders

I've already touched on Canice Carroll who probably is best suited to a role in defensive midfield, but by all means make the most of his versatility. Darren Lyon looks like a solid starter at centre-mid in a ball-winning role perhaps, though he's no one trick pony and has quite balanced stats so could take on most roles. Craig Slater looks another great option in there, with more technical proficiency and a better passing game. 54-cap Kiwi Michael McGlinchey arrives from down under, on a free transfer from Wellington Phoenix, he certainly has the experience and technical ability to be your main creative fulcrum as an advanced playmaker, or cut in from the left wing and contribute from wide as an inverted winger or forward. Grant Gillespie made just short of 200 appearances for Hamilton Academical in the top two divisions, and at the age of 28 he's still got plenty in the tank, despite possibly being one of The Spiders' weaker central midfield options, but he's a decent all-rounder who will look very good at this level.

 

Wingers

I've mentioned NZ veteran international Michael McGlinchey who is an inverted option on the left flank, and is one of the most technically gifted players at the club. Louis Longridge looks suited to occupy the opposite wing. The right winger has a wealth of experience in the top two divisions, and seems a stand-out option there. Jai Quitongo can also operate on the right, though may be better utilised up front. Ross McLean offers another option on the right, but isn't really on the same level as Longridge, though he holds promise for the future. Club captain David Galt is buried in the reserve squad upon your arrival, and the versatile winger who has spent most of his career with The Spiders seems to be deemed surplus to requirements at the club, but could be reintegrated if you wish. Handling his situation could be a challenge; he is a team leader in the dressing room but there are several better captaincy candidates at the club and he probably doesn't justify his wage of £400p/w as a fringe player, but as a result he may be difficult to offload due to wage demands or his departure may impact the dressing room adversely.

 

Strikers

The best option up front isn't actually an option for half the season sadly, and represents an odd bit of business from Queen's Park. Former Dundee United and Hibernian hitman Simon Murray earned himself a £150k move to South Africa not long ago, but suffered cruciate ligament damage in his second game of the season from which he is still recovering for at least another five months. Nonetheless, your predecessor decided to pay him £800 per week while he spends half of his one-year deal recovering from a serious injury - you won't have long to decide if you want to stick or twist. If he gets back to his best he would be a brilliant asset to the club, and he can also do a job on either wing. In the meantime, Championship veteran Bob McHugh looks the best of the frontmen. Jai Quitongo mentioned above as a winger, is a good pacey option up top. Young Aussie striker Will Baynham rounds out your striking options standing at 6'3", so if you plan to use a target man he is probably the man for the job.

 

Personally, I am likely to proceed with the squad as it is until January. I'm leaning towards a 4-4-2 with McHugh and Quitongo up top, but a 4-5-1 DM Wide is also an option, as is a 4-4-1-1 or 4-2-3-1 to use McGlinchey behind the striker (a new addition on the left wing may be a good idea to accommodate this approach). 

On paper, this starting squad should be more than capable of bringing home the league title without any additional expenditure. It's not always that simple though, is it...

If you decide to undertake a save with Queen's Park it'd be great to know how you are getting on!

Edited November 24, 2020 by GylfiAsCharged

[Kostropaty]

Great club with great history. They seem to be a major contender for this season surely. In our online save Queens Park dominates div 2, some players like Slater are certainly good enough for higher divisions -on the paper they look way stronger than my Morton. Good luck.
 

Edited November 25, 2020 by Kostropaty

[GylfiAsCharged]

Something that had totally slipped my mind (though regular viewers of Sky Sports' Soccer Saturday coverage of the Saturday 3pm scores will know) is that trialists can play in league fixtures in the Scottish Second Division. I'm not sure if that's still the case in the First Division, and it's not something I will be exploiting personally, but you could use this to patch up your team in an injury crisis, or use free agents that are willing to join on trial but you can't afford to tie down.

My initial assessment of the Simon Murray signing in the opening of this thread was probably too harsh, as he's about to return to full training for my team in November. I've got most of my starting team tied down on two-year contracts now, beware of the 35% promotion wage increase clauses they try and sneak in when negotiating as basically every player has tried it and a few of those slipping through the net could be very costly in season two, assuming all goes to plan in the first year.

My front two impressing at the beginning of the season. Opening three league games have been won 5-0, 6-0 and 4-0 so this season looks like it'll be a bit of a breeze. Lux was really not a necessary signing, especially with Simon Murray coming back to full training in early November. He'll get a year's extension if he plays 10 games, and while he's banging them in now he is the wrong side of 30 and earning nearly a grand a week, if Murray can get fit and firing quickly I may avoid triggering that and just keep him aside on 9 apps in case the goals dry up for Murray and McHugh. Rare nationalities are a bit of a weakness of mine and I don't think I'd have done the deal if it was a Scotsman. Here are his stats anyway, a bit to like but age and wage wise he wasn't a great move. The nationality thing is particularly stupid in a league with no international breaks - McGlinchey still gets called up for New Zealand which could be a pain!

I also loaned a few kids in from the top flight to beef my squad up, including this kid from Aberdeen who can play up top or as an attacking midfielder. The old get team report trick still works great for finding potential loan players, Hanratty is probably the best I picked up but you can have 4 season-long loans in a season (Brody Paterson in from Celtic is the only existing one) so why not?

I guess the fun element of having only one youth player, and him being a goalkeeper, is that he seems to be taking penalties by default.

Edited November 26, 2020 by GylfiAsCharged

[GylfiAsCharged]

Very pleased with our first outing in my improvised 4-1-4-1 counter-attacking shape, in contrast to our usual attacking 4-4-2. I hadn't realised prior to the game that Kilmarnock had sacked their manager and were sitting bottom of the Premiership, but any team three leagues above are going to be a tall order to beat. Having beaten Stranraer and Edinburgh City and now Kilmarnock, we now welcome Morton to Hampden with a chance of progressing at the expense of the more fancied sides in our group. It's not set in stone yet, as Kilmarnock play eliminated Edinburgh City with the chance to leapfrog us on goal difference if we slip up against Morton, requiring a three-goal swing which is fairly probable if we do lose, but a point will see us through safely. Bob McHugh's contribution has been pivotal, scoring five of our seven goals in the competition. 

[GylfiAsCharged]

Relieved to confirm top spot in the group after falling behind to a sloppy goal. Kilmarnock won their last game 3-0 so a defeat would have seen us eliminated.

Probably not the money-spinner I'd hoped for, but it's a draw that gives us a slim chance of progressing

Edited November 26, 2020 by GylfiAsCharged

[GylfiAsCharged]

We met the board's expectation in reaching the Third Round before getting narrowly beaten by St Mirren. Just felt the biggest disappointment of the season, after winning my first 16 in the league I finally tasted defeat 3-2 against second placed Edinburgh City. Bob McHugh continues to go berserk up top for me, currently on 39 goals in 24 games, scoring on average every 55 minutes. 

Foolishly I jumped the gun in tying Simon Murray down for a second year before making him prove himself to me. He's been very poor since returning from injury, only scoring once in 281 minutes of football in a pretty dominant team, and has suffered a couple more minor injuries since, I could really do with letting his sizeable wage out of the door in the summer. 

Kevin Hanratty, my young loan striker from Aberdeen continues to play well and I'm glad to have extended his loan for a second season.

With those three strikers remaining at the club next year, I'll be leaving Vitalij Lux sat miserably on 9 apps so as to not trigger his costly extension. He had one phenomenal game early in the season but has contributed very little since.

Edited December 1, 2020 by GylfiAsCharged

[Nev10]

I took over a Queens also... won the league in the first season currently top of League one in the 2nd season.

 

the 25 man squad numbers is a bit of a restriction but just managing along nicely.

 

Star Performers from the start have been.  Peter Grant, Bob McHugh, Jai Quitongo.

 

few signings that have performed so far are... Patrick Finger, Jonny Mitchell, Blair Henderson, Zoran Bassong, Jarvis Edobar.

 

Sold Ian Belen to hearts for £85k upfront £185k with addons & Cannice Carrol to Ross County for £40k 

[madeirabhoy]

Not long started so came on here for tips. 
 

as a Celtic fan I looked to them for loans and was happy to find they generally didn’t expect me to pay wages. So Luca Connell and Stephen welsh aren’t costing me a bean. 
 

alex Bruce a freebie defender looks good. 

[Pablo Sanchez]

any good freebies to get right at the start?

[madeirabhoy]

money really is tight, and unlike others I haven't found it easy. despite going into every game the favourite it was draw after draw after draw. my favoured 4231, a recent celtic 442 diamond, even boring old 442, always the same.

 

and it was only when celtic started complaining to me that I realised that the solution was staring me in the face.

 

basically I had Peter grant, signed Alex bruce, and had Stephen welsh on loan from celtic. outside of Luca Connell in midfield they were probably my 3 best players. but I was either dropping one or more often playing welsh at right back. which he on paper is decent at. but for the second time I had celtic complain that welsh wasnt being played in his best position.

 

now I hate 352, but when your 3 best players are all centre backs. when in Rome and all that...

 

and it was instant. coming off the back of a run of 3 draws and a loss, and before that, two expected wins, a draw and two losses..

 

the minute I changed to 352, stock formation, no tweaks, I have won 5 out of 6 including beating top of the league Edinburgh City 4-2, and have scored at least 3 goals in all of them except the 0 0 draw.

 

 

 

[Codders]

I'm on my Aberdeen save, season 2, Kevin Hanratty is playing awesome, scoring little dink finishes if he is played up top (AF), and creating all sorts when played behind.

 

He and Ramsay are the future! Looking forward to seeing how he develops in your save.