Queen's Park 1 - 2 Clyde (Scottish League Two) (09/08/2014)

Pole Position

Clyde’s impressive dominance of possession put them in pole position to draw first blood in this fixture however the first forty-five minutes were to be an ultimately frustrating opening to the season. Despite displaying the same rehearsal and awareness of objective that saw them make an auspicious start in the cup competitions, Clyde made a (bad) habit of playing their football in front of Queen’s Park and very seldom behind them.

Possession, Possession, Possession… Implosion

The frustration which no spectator could fail to notice – and which was especially evident after thirty minutes of play – morphed into disappointment and anger early in the second-half when Queen’s Park took the lead in the fifty-eighth minute through a very shoddily defended corner. Some may say that goalkeeper Jamie Barclay ought to have done better. In my opinion it would be masochistic of a goalkeeper to blame himself in such circumstances. Scott Durie, instead, must reflect on his error. Missing an ordinarily easily cleared first ball at Barclay’s near post, he gave his stopper only milliseconds react. Very few goalkeepers would have spared Durie’s embarrassment (above left: how the sides tended to square up through the first half).

Patience Wearing Thin

Clyde’s reaction to Queen’s Park’s goal was to throw off the shackles of their patient premeditated approach. This was done messily until the introduction of Michael Daly, seventy-six minutes in. Daly replaced a tired Scott McManus whose fitness evidently isn’t quite on a par with his teammates and provided Clyde with a more robust and energetic linchpin of attack.

A New Approach

Daly’s presence, in combination with replacement of Kevin Watt by Stuart McColm, and with the switching of Scott Ferguson onto the right flank, made Clyde a more direct threat to Queen’s Park. Gordon Young too, whose inclination to attack discharged the more destructive and conservative tendencies of Giuseppe Capuano, was another feature of a transformed Clyde.

Their mistake or your skill?

The pressure Clyde felt as time ticked on motivated them to increase the intensity of their attacks. Queen’s Park had spent most of the match thus far chasing play in order to stifle Clyde and looked the more sluggish side in the final ten minutes. The confluence of those facts in addition to Clyde’s sensibly revamped style eventually saw Queen’s Park’s stuffy defence give way (twice). A desperate attempt to thwart Scott Ferguson’s dart into the penalty area yielded a penalty kick which Ross McKinnon converted and with but a few minutes remaining David Sinclair picked out the fortunately unmarked Michael Daly with an accurate cross. He made no mistake from point blank range (above left: the horizontal channel which Clyde failed to exploit).

Under the Microscope

Clyde’s fixed midfield three didn’t offer a great diversity of ambition or talent. All three players have their strengths, it’s just that those strengths don’t complement one another or the side as well as another combination of strengths might. 

David Sinclair, for instance, is a good technical footballer. He shows good vision and passing skills. Giuseppe Capuano reads play quite well, gets in opponents faces and shuts off space smartly; he’ll win you the ball back and he’s not too rash about diving in. David Gray, like his namesake Sinclair, is another notably good technical player. He has the wisdom to know when play simply has to keep moving as opposed to Sinclair who perhaps seems more inclined to look for a penetrating pass.

Gray’s experience makes him the outstanding candidate for the sitting role, although he made the sort of error which a sitting player never should last week (getting caught in possession). Sinclair probably ought to be allowed a more adventurous role, whilst Capuano and Sweeney would seem to be interchangeable but for the fact that the latter is the captain and offers running into and beyond the forwards. Something Clyde could’ve done with yesterday.

Room For Improvement

Right-Back Scott Durie allowed his side’s defence to be undermined on his side. He was Clyde’s most ill-composed and wasteful player with possession and was almost singly responsible for the goal which they conceded.

Kevin Watt who is tenacious and gives Clyde a counter-attacking outlet does also make some bad decisions in possession. Having said that, he is often very isolated when he receives the ball and he doesn’t receive the sort of backing McKinnon gives to Ferguson on the opposite flank. In Stuart McColm Clyde have a more confident, experienced and inventive player than Watt but would sacrifice the very useful speed he brings if they replaced him.

John Sweeney would’ve offered something Giuseppe Capuano wouldn’t have in this match, and had he been available perhaps David Gray would’ve remained as the side’s sitting player. That arrangement might’ve brought better balance but whether it would have allowed Clyde to gain and defend a lead is debatable.

The Opposition

An interesting feature of Gus MacPherson’s tactics in this match was the distraction which Shaun Fraser (10) provided playing just behind Ross McPherson (9). There were a few occasions on which both David Marsh and Brian McQueen came out to intercept the deeper lying Fraser, lurking between them and Clyde’s David Sinclair. On all of those occasions they ventured too far from their comfort-depth and left their partner exposed to a QP attack (above left: how the sides were matching-up prior to full-time).

Ross McPherson unsettled Clyde’s centre halves in a way that most forwards aren’t able to. He appears to be a very canny and robust forward. His strength and positioning had Brian McQueen and David Marsh mistiming their leaps and committing to challenges which they couldn’t win.

Opinion

The horizontal channel between opposition sides’ midfield and defence must be exploited more prolifically by Clyde. Scott McManus could drop into it more often and from the middle of the park there has to be more investment in attacks. In my opinion Clyde need a new player to really turn the screw.

Though Clyde deserved to win this match they made it terribly difficult for themselves. If they are to win the league they’ll have to look more like a side that will take a lead and keep it and not a side that will fall behind and win by throwing the kitchen sink at an opponent. Leagues don’t tend to be won that way.