QUEENS can become KINGS
Promotion would create legends, says chairman
ANYONE who thinks there isn’t at least one more kink left i n this season of twists and turns, please stand up. Now kindly make your way to the nearest hospital, where it is recommended that you undergo a full check-up on vision, hearing and cognitive abilities.
Now that we know the identity of all three Championship sides taking part i n the promotion play-offs, with only the exact order of the fixtures to be finalised, there surely isn’t a sane judge of football who would dare to make a definitive call on what will happen next.
Indeed, there is only one thing upon which most seem to agree. Under no circumstances should Queen of the South be dismissed as mere also-rans.
Sure, they have only finished fourth in the second tier, just scraping into the play- offs with one week to spare. In terms of size, support, i nfrastructure and playing budget, they can’t come close to either Hibernian or Rangers.
If the runaway title success of Hearts teaches us anything, however, it is t hat making predictions based on old- style assumptions about past achievements, crowd numbers or ‘the natural order of things’ is a hopelessly outdated way of thinking.
Boasting a formidable home record (13 league wins at Palmerston, as opposed to just four away from their own patch) that occasionally prompts visiting teams to mutter darkly about the plastic pitch, James Fowler’s men have good reason to fancy their chances against anyone over two legs.
Queens chairman Billy Hewitson, a lifelong supporter currently living the dream, certainly believes his team — who lost out to Falkirk in the first round of last year’s play- offs — can go all the way. Without looking back.
‘I’ve been going to games since I was five years old, I’m 56 now, so that’s half a century of watching different generations of this club,’ he told Sportsmail.
‘ The team f rom the mid to l ate - 70s is t he one I r eally remember the most, they had some success. After that, it’s the team that got to the Scottish Cup Final in 2008.
‘But I think this team plays better football than any of them. And they’ve got a chance to be remembered as one of the greatest in the club’s history.
‘It’s been a surprising season in many ways, yes. And I can definitely imagine both Hibs and Rangers being left behind in the Championship — quite easily! Seriously, even if it’s not us, it could be Motherwell, Kilmarnock or whoever.
‘For ourselves, we haven’t been in the top division since the late ’50s. If we get there again, it will show how much the team are progressing.
‘And I have no fears about going up. If you look at the teams who have been promoted, most of them who have gone up over the last 10 years are still there.
‘So I have no fears. We’ve got the right set-up on and off the field. We’re ready.’
In terms of spending power, the result of the play- offs should be pre-ordained, with Queens a very sorry fourth behind Rangers, Hibs and whoever f i nishes second bottom of the Premiership.
By that same l ogic, though, Rangers should have blown away all opposition on the final stage of ‘the journey’ to the top flight. In two visits to Palmerston this season, they’ve scored none and conceded five.
Defending his club against oft-repeated accusations about a less than level — and unduly artificial — playing field, Hewitson insisted: ‘Rangers have actually killed themselves by talking themselves out of playing on it, for some strange reason.
‘The difference between playing here and playing on grass, even at this stage of the season when pitches are getting hard and bumpy, there is no comparison. I would think that, if you come and play football at Palmerston, it’s a great place to play football.
‘ I think any team that gets beaten uses the pitch as an excuse. But, to be fair, Hibs came here the last time, played good football and beat us.
‘In terms of the money, it’s still 11 players against 11 players. We just concentrated on having a big enough squad and the right quality of players, i ncluding promoting some youngsters at different stages of development.
‘But, from the outset, the goal was definitely always the play-offs. We did it last year and we expected Falkirk to be the team challenging this year. The key now i s to continue playing as well as we have done.
‘All the players know there will be new contracts issued if we get promoted. They deserve that because there will be more money available. We would reward them for getting there. If we don’t, we’ll lose all our good young players.’
We’ve got the right set-up on and off-field. We are ready