THE successes of a manager will often come to be viewed in black and white, but Jim McIntyre is seeing them all in techincolor.

Having sent his Queen of the South side out for his first home match as manager
on Saturday, he was given to consider the journey which had taken him to the Dumfries club's Palmerston home; a route which would conclude with a goalless draw with Hearts and a silent reminder
of the anticipation placed on him, since one side of the ground has been decorated with a series of
ad hoc murals depicting Queens' recent triumphs.

Featuring prominently among them is the profile of Allan Johnston, the coach who delivered the club back to the first division
last season before continuing on ahead by taking charge at SPFL Premiership side Kilmarnock weeks later. It was a departure which had seemed untimely for Queens since the squad had just returned to pre-season training and which has been exacerbated by the Rugby Park club reportedly failing to pay the £30,000 due for Johnston last week.
It is understood the Queens board have made contact to formally query
the debt, although there have also been signs that the turnover in coaching staff might not leave
them so hard up.

The appointment of McIntyre
last month was uncomplicated –
"I applied for the position, I spoke to the club and, fortunately, they asked me to take over" – but he has arrived better disposed now to the nuances of coaching after his last post at Dunfermline Athletic ended meekly, with the Fife side four points adrift at the bottom of the Premier League table. A year spent outside the stifling environment of the dugout allowed McIntyre room to grow
as a coach and last season also comprised an invitation to return
to former club Bristol City to act
as a coach and aide to the team's erstwhile manager, Derek McInnes.

It was a move which might have been considered a retreat, but McIntyre would succeed in using
the step back to survey the field of management more extensively before plotting a return. "It was actually a great learning curve
to watch how Derek and Tony [Docherty] worked at City
and I really enjoyed it all," he says. "Being in the background at a
club you take in far more than you do when you are on the frontline,
so it was very beneficial for my progress."

Queens underwent a similar restoration last season, one which was embellished by an accession
to not just win the second division but win well. It is a pursuit which enveloped the club's appointment
of McIntyre as he is given to instructing teams to attack forcibly, although he has also sought to put "his stamp" on the squad. That will likely be done more assiduously during training sessions since Johnston had retained the main components of the side –
albeit Queens look less pointed
in attack and seem certain to add trialist Calum Antell as first-choice goalkeeper – including aspiring young talent such as Danny Carmichael and Gavin Reilly. "And young [Kevin] Holt. He played really well [against Hearts] and Reilly showed a good spark, so it bodes well for the future," says McIntyre.

The 41-year-old has been recruited on a one-year contract at Palmerston but he is able to look beyond that and consider a bigger picture. "Allan liked to pass the ball and I'm a big believer in that as well. There's no need for wholesale changes because the team are successful," he says.

"But what we've got to remember is the league business hasn't started yet and we are going into a league which is notoriously difficult. We know that we are going to be put under pressure and it's important that when we have our moments in games that we go and hurt teams."