NEW BOSS McPHERSON IMPRESSED WHAT HE HAS SEEN SO FAR
He told Dumfries and Galloway Standard “I’m delighted to be back in the game, delighted to have got the job and impressed with what I’ve seen so far.
“It is going to be a difficult job but it is not different from any other manager’s before the season starts.
“We will be trying to get the positivity back here. There has been some disappointment and a little bit of negativity.
“But everyone must now be focused and pulling in the right direction.
“We are approachable. We are accessible for anyone who wants to ask us any questions and we will be as positive as we possibly can be.
“The directors are positive and want to go forward. They want the best for the club and they want everybody to be involved in that. We are all in this together.
“I think the First Division is an interesting league and we’ve got to try and build momentum. It’s going to be positive stuff from us, right from the very first day of the season.”
The management team were due to sit down at the weekend and begin first-team preparations by identifying a training base, sorting out players’ contracts and drawing up a list of potential targets.
“We want to put a team on the park that is competitive and can make an impact in the First Division,” added MacPherson, a Scottish Cup winner as a player with Kilmarnock in 1997.
“There is a lot of work to be done behind the scenes to make sure that everything is in place for the players when they return.
“We will be trying to bring the right type of players to Queens. We will be trying to relay professionalism and maintain the high standards of the past few years.
“We want to consolidate our position in the First Division and push on from there.
“It is going to take time and we will need everyone on the playing staff to buy into what we’re telling them.”
MacPherson says making the club a focal point of the town is an ambition and he believes there are similarities between Queens and his former employers.
“Queen of the South are recognised as a well-established First Division club,” he said. “Traditionally, the club is very well-run with a fantastic atmosphere about the place.
“I’ve always enjoyed coming down here. I always said St Mirren were the flagship of the community and we have to make sure we involve the community down here. It’s a one-club town, just like Paisley.”
MacPherson’s managerial record speaks for itself. In seven years at Saints, he led them to First Division safety before winning the title and Challenge Cup. Four successive seasons of SPL football were enhanced by League Cup final and Scottish Cup semi-final appearances.
He was the longest-serving boss in the top-flight before he parted company with the Buddies. It has taken some time, and there have been knockbacks along the way, but he’s now back to where he wants to be.
MacPherson added: “When you come out the game, you understand how difficult it will be to get back in. I knew we’d be out of the game for a few months.
“We have to make the most of this opportunity and make sure that Queens benefit from our experience.
“You are brought to a club on the strength of your past experiences and that’s the reason, I believe, that we’ve been identified.
“Opportunities are few and far between but I was always confident if a team looked at our CV on the back of the seven years we had at St Mirren.”
MacPherson’s right-hand man is Millen, a 46-year-old football fanatic who was still playing for Third Division Queen’s Park at the end of last season.
“I could be here all night talking about his qualities,”he said. “Andy was my first St Mirren signing and my most important signing both on and off the park.
“Unfortunately, and I’m serious about this, he won’t be on the park this season. But off the park, anybody who has come across Andy has been left nothing but impressed.
“I’m delighted to have attracted someone of Andy’s calibre. These individuals can’t be lost to the game as they have so much passion and enthusiasm for it.”