Queen’s Park Head Coach Gus MacPherson completed two months in charge of the League 2 club this week and took time this week to discuss what he has learnt in his first stint in football in the fourth level of the SPFL.
As well as looking back at his opening period at the Spiders the former St. Mirren and Queen of the South manager is keen to look forward to what he hopes will be a return to a challenging position next season.
MacPherson said: “It has been an exciting and thoroughly enjoyable start to my time at Queen’s Park. It has been good getting my teeth back into something after being away from the management side of things for a while.”
“This is a long term job due to where the club is and I don’t just mean in terms of the playing squad.”
The 45-year-old explained his last statement by adding: “There is a lot happening on and off the park in terms of our year playing out at Airdrie and training at Toryglen because of the Commonwealth Games. As a club we are already very heavily involved in making sure we get things right for next season.”
“My assistant Chris Hillcoat and I are looking at the playing side of things at a first team level but there are lots of people looking to help with all the important work that goes on at the many other levels Queen’s Park works on.”
During his time charge MacPherson has seen six defeats and two draws however far more encouragingly the last two games have been won with eight goals scored with a 4-0 success over Albion Rovers and a 4-1 win over East Stirling.
MacPherson said: “The only team we have not played against during my time here is Elgin. The standard in League 2 is very impressive and I do not just mean the players. The coaching and the way teams are set up is very impressive.”
“That has not been a surprise to me as I knew that there were good players and good coaches throughout Scotland. I am delighted at how high that the standards are in League 2 and other people should have a look.”
As for Queen’s Park, MacPherson said: “I knew I was joining a great club, a unique institution and that has proven to be the case. The players are well looked after and I have been impressed with how the club operates. I am pleased to be part of it.”
“However I am not sitting back admiring things all the same as I want to get Queen’s Park back to challenging at the top end of the table. They had several years of going close to promotion before this season and that is what we want to have from next season.”
“I would add that we face a massive pre-season in terms of getting things right.”
MacPherson added: “It is my first involvement in part-time football however a lot of things are exactly the same as full time football. Educating your players to prepare for games and look after themselves is the same no matter what level you play at.”
“Other issues complicate things such as work commitments and shift changes and you have to hold your hands up and accept that they take precedence as they are what provide a player’s livelihood.”
“Also at Queen’s we have 16 and 17 year olds youth players, as well as reserve team players, that we need to get ready for the first team. Whilst it is part time football there is an awful lot happening probably just as much as soon full time clubs.”
The Spiders have been shot-shy all season and MacPherson has tried to change that and their two recent wins would indicate a level of success.
MacPherson said: “We brought in a couple of players to give us more of an attacking threat. When I came in and looked at the goals for column it was easy to see that we were not scoring enough goals. They were in short supply and we needed more fire-power.”
“We had Tony Wallace in from Morton for a month and he made a good impact. He needed games after an injury and it always looked like he would go back. He is out of contract at the end of the season and his manager at Cappielow will now be able to get a good look at him.”
The other recruit is staying until May with MacPherson saying: “We also brought in Eamonn Brophy from Hamilton Accies and he has done really well with three goals in three games. It is not just in his goalscoring he has done well as he has linked up well to bring Blair Spittal and Sean Burns into the game.”
“When they get into the game in an attacking sense they also bring James Baty and David Anderson forward so our creativity has increased recently as has the number of goals scored.”
Five of the defeats in Queen’s Park’s recent run were of the single goal variety and the other was by two so getting it right at the other end was identified as one way of helping.
MacPherson explained: “We had been losing a few games by a solitary goal so having a threat up front makes you more confident that you can recover a situation should you go behind. We did that at East Stirling last Saturday and having an attacking threat has given us something to build on.”
“We have also looked more solid at the back as well and that is progress too. We have won two games in a row now but that does not mean too much. We will certainly not be getting complacent.”
One of the reasons for the improvement defensively has been the deployment of the club’s longest serving player as a centre back.
“After trying a few things out Tony Quinn stepped back and tightened things up,” said MacPherson before adding, “We tried three at the back and Scott Gibson played really well in that system but it did not work against certain opposition. We had tried things to keep games tight but that would see us lose some goal threat so we kept on trying things to get the balance right.”
“Tony is a big physical guy and he has given us an added presence at the back. He has been linking the defence together and touch wood we have stopped losing soft goals. Tony has formed an understanding quickly with Jamie Brough which is great however that will be tested this weekend with Peterhead.”
The league leaders head to Airdrie looking to take another step forward towards the title and MacPherson said: “Peterhead are the strongest and most experienced side I have seen in League 2. In saying that, we did give them a tight game at their place when we lost 1-0. They deserved to win that day and they are also a team that have the good knack of grinding wins out when they have to.”
“They will win the league in my opinion. They have the experience to handle the run-in but we will be out to give them a contest. We have some confidence about us just now and I am sure that we will create chances which is a huge help in a game.”
Queen’s have occupied bottom position all season however their recent successes and Elgin slip ups has seen the gap between the clubs narrow to seven points.
MacPherson however is not using catching the Borough Briggs’ men as motivation saying: “Elgin have never been mentioned as a target as every team talk has been about Queen’s Park. We have been assessing everything since we came in and will continue to do so until the end of the season. It is all about Queen’s Park improving.”
“If the players can impress me enough to show that they want to be part of something next season that will be part of the early objectives in my job done.”
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