Barney Rubble

A win for us is paramount. We do that, and we've done our job. Any other result is immaterial.

1) No, and for the record at no point have I stated that Archie should be sacked. 2) If we stay up, then no. 3) No, see above. 4) If we go down, then his position must come under review. That's my opinion on the subject. Others may feel differently and are quite entitled to do so. That's the beauty of a discussion forum.

It's mine too - except my copy is back in the West End so not available for consultation this week!! JFT96 from

Cheers Charlie.

This, to the power of infinity. A question, who did the Jags play that afternoon? I was playing SAFL that afternoon, but I was convinced anyway that the Jags were away that day?

Probably not, mate. Maybe it's just the way you, and others, have been interpreting different opinions to your own?

Out of 9 score draws we've led in 7 (exceptions being the third games v St Johnstone and Dundee Utd). Of the 3 no-score draws, you could argue with every justification that we should have taken Fake Thistle on Boxing day. Add in being 3-2 up late on v Motherwell and the 0-1 ****-up v Hibs, then we could have potentially had up to 22 points more, and that's leaving out all of the heavy pastings we've had. Even a meagre 7 points out of that lot would have seen us in easy sight of safety right now. As it is, Hearts' recent heroics means that they have accrued only two points less than the Jags in the league. Anyway, it's all immaterial as we are where we are. Let's all get behind players and management and encourage them to achieve our best run of the season in the last 5 games.

Mate, even I cannot support you on that one. That guy should have been shot for his tactics in that game in Prague alone.

Let's cut out the jargon please, we don't have 5 or 7 cup finals. St Johnstone have a Cup Final, we don't. We have 5 games left to prove that we are good enough to remain in this league. That said, I fully agree with your point about supporting the team.

Comedy genius from Sevco.

I'm sorry Ian, but that comment does not stand up to scrutiny. If we are relegated, then other Premiership clubs will be there in an instant to pick off the carcass of our squad. The non-loanees of that squad would look to find another Premiership club, having had a taste of it this season and having acquitted themselves well. That's perfectly natural and they are entitled to do so, and would be successful in doing so. I very much doubt Archie could cope with that level of damage to the current squad. The track record of those relegated from the top division to date does not show a history of clubs coming back up at the first attempt. We all remember what happened in 2004-05. I have no wish to experience that again, and neither should any Jags supporter who recalls that phase of the club's history. Just like voting no in 1979 brought Scotland Thatcher, so relegation in 2004 brought us The Bunnet. And we all know where that took us. Make no mistake, relegation this season would be an disaster for PTFC. Which is why I do not want us to risk it by being in the play-offs.

That's a blow. On a related note, is Ozzy going to feature again this season?

Good on you, mate. Must be five years since I heard a CD that's so good. I'm actually listening to it while watching the catfight on the Archie Must Go thread unfold!!!!

Any chance we can get back to discussing our inability to defend dead balls, please?

This weekend, the time normally spent following the Jags will probably be spent listening to the Temperance Movement album followed by the Wilko/Roger album. And then I'll check the results.

It's a club thing, the Board are setting the budget, Archie may well be making the decisions on who to sign, God knows who is coaching the defence etc etc etc. The annoying thing about this year is that we have a team that can play excellent football, which is why our defensive frailties are such a frustration. As Trotter has pointed out, we could easily be 10-12 points better off had we been able to see good positions out in a professional manner. This team is way better to watch than Lambie's mid 90s team. BUT and it's a big BUT - where that team trashes this one is in experience at the back (Jamieson, Tierney, Byrne, Pittman anyone?).

Please explain what have I not got? And where on any thread have I ever said that Archie is to 'blame'?

Got the connection now - cheers TL

The budget available is not the issue - it's how that budget is deployed. Look at it this way, leaving out loans, we spent on the midfield and front areas (Ozzie, Higgy, Baird and eventually Fraser). We bought/signed Gallacher, and eventually bought Mair (neither of whom has yet to achieve a shut out for PTFC). It is of course easy to say with hindsight, but we did not invest enough in experience in the back line last summer. That's been our weakest area all season. Even with the recent changes 18 goals have been lost in the last 8 games. Do you see the connection now?

Then go on and easily use their online names then.

Maybe it's just me, but why should retaining SPFL status by the lowest means possible (play-off, which is by definition is a risk) be deemed acceptable? And this season in particular? What's wrong with expecting this team to have retained SPFL status with a bit of style and a bit to spare? We've been going backwards in terms of results compared to the rest of the bottom six since we won at Inverness. Again, maybe it's only me, but why should we not have been able to be above the play-off position by now, given the standard of football we have been playing? I'm sure part of the matter is expectations - last season's exceptional standard and this season's decent start has probably produced an anticipation which for some of us (myself certainly) means that our current position is a major disappointment. I sincerely hope that after the Ross County game we are on here wondering what all the fuss was about, but that would imply a run of results that we have rarely achieved this season. Remember, we are the only team in the division that has not managed back to back league wins this season. The same spirit that saw us gub the Sheep should sort that out - but why should having a realistic standard or expectation that is better than our current position be viewed as a point of derision?

Go on then.

Not putting down the win v Hibs, far from it. Just emphasisng what others have alluded to, that it wasn't quite as emphatic as some have made out. That said, I will be absolutely delighted to see another three similar wins in the next five games.

Should have, could have and would have. The reality was that it didn't. Doolan in the hole might work with e.g. Elliott on the right side rather than Erskinho. What many haven't sussed is that it worked against Hibs because they were rank, and we got away with it because of an outstanding performance on the day by Higgy. We were under pressure in the period when SOD was saved from scoring the og of the season by Paul Gallacher's outstanding reflexes. And Higgy's confirmation of the points only arrived in extremis.