Queen of the South clinched the 2nd division title today with a 6-0 win over Brechin, the only team that could have mathematically caught them. Champions before the end of March with 6 games left to play, what's taking Celtic and Rangers so long?
The strangest thing about this is how poor QotS were last season. It also demonstrates the gap between the 1st and 2nd division. QotS look like a decent 1st division team on paper and have ripped up the 2nd division this season. They will certainly be much stronger than the promoted sides from last season have been. Goodness knows what's taking Rangers so long. They're playing some players huge money for that level, and not getting any of the rewards they should be for that. It was clear that McCoist didn't have a clue how to build a team for that level. He chased after expensive SPL players like Templeton and McGowan (and they didn't even get McGowan), aging Brazillians and the like when there were plenty good SFL players they could have been snapping up. They should have won the league long ago for a fraction of the wage bill.
Thouraghly deserved (obviously). East Fife have done relatively well against Queens (one draw and two defeats by the odd goal) so we haven't really seen them at their best but their consistency has been frightening and their cup results show what a good team they are. It seems like they have a cracking young manager in Alan Johnstone and it'll be interesting to see how they get on at a higher level.
I've seen Queen of the South twice this season, once as a fan of the team they were playing and once in a journalistic capacity. The first was against Dumbarton at The Rock in a Ramsdens Cup first round tie (still technically pre-season as the league games hadn't started yet) and Queens won narrowly and looked a fairly physical side. The other occasion that I watched them was at the recent Ramsdens Cup final at Livingston's Meadowbank Stadium, when I was there to report on the match for Ultimate Scottish Football magazine. Whilst Queens were certainly better in the final than they were in the first round, they still struck me as a reserved team, never committing more than 3 players forward to attack at any time.They kept their play very simple and, aside from their right winger, Carmichael, they didn't have any player who stood out as being particularly exceptional. Their dominance of Division Two is completely unsurprising as they were the only full-time professional club in a very poor league made up of only small, provincial part-time clubs. Next season in Division One they will be in for a much tougher time and I'd expect them to be mid-table at best if they go with the same (or mostly the same) squad as they have this season.
QoS has now also won the Ramsdens Cup and on Saturday tied the all-time point record for the 2nd Division at 88 points, with 2 games remaining.
Down 2-0 in the 88th minute the champions came back to grab a 2-2 draw and with it set a new 2nd Division point record at 89 while also sealing an undefeated home record.