partickthedog

There are some players who are so close to being really good, but have one flaw in their make up or one gap in their skill set or whatever. You would think that all they need to do is to practise hard on that one aspect and do extra training on it and they will become that all-round great player, but somehow it does not seem to work like that. I really like Ade Azeez, but surely that dreadful first touch could eventually be conquered? Conrad was similar in that he does so many positive things and has a great character and seems a real teambuilder, but in almost every game he appears to have one potentially disastrous switch off moment, leading to a slip or a missed swipe at the ball or a key attacker eluding him as marker. If you could guarantee full concentration for the 90, Archie would be walking barefoot to Balamory to re-sign him.

If it's a relatively newly laid pitch, maybe it is too young to shave.

Cairney was a very good finisher. If half a dozen years ago, you had to pick one Thistle player to finish off a one on one chance to save your life, then I suspect many of us would have trusted our fate to Paul even above such excellent players as Kris Doolan and Chris Erskine.

I thought that this smell was caused by a police horse with a queasy stomach.

Agree with the spirit of this post, although I was expecting Wilson to come on rather than Elliot. Wilson gets up and down the pitch very well and covers a lot of ground, so is ideal when the game is stretched.

0-1 Hearts at halftime. Soft header from slow lobbed corner. Apart from that Thistle playing really well. Lots of good combinations up front and rather unlucky not to find that final pass or shot. Encouraged and optimistic for second half.

Website restored and some interesting new slants in the fulsome interviews. Archie shows a nice line in humour when reflecting on his first 150 games in charge. Novel idea to have a comprehensive report on the injured/recovering players from the physio.

Website worked just long enough to take my money, then collapsed immediately!

Becoming a little weary of this constant targeting of Lindsay. He made a very obvious, public and costly mistake. No one will be more aware of this and more determined to improve than Liam. At half time on Saturday I was texting a fellow Jags fan who could not attend the game. I singled out Lindsay for praise, saying that he had won everything. We already have a player.

Strange happenings in the Elgin Triangle. I also noted that Prunty came on for Lynn after 83 minutes, but was still an unused sub.

Totally agreed. I have just commented on that on the Sportscene thread

Highlights actually presented on the programme did not give a fair reflection of the game in not showing our two "nearest things" in the first half, namely Ryan Edwards not finding the right elevation in attempting to chip the keeper from close range, and David Amoo outpacing the defence but not releasing a shot or pass away until a moment too late. They did show, as I thought from my one look at the time. that Sean Welsh should not have been penalised, far less booked, for a perfectly fair challenge which took the ball. Of course that did not excuse the petulant dissent which brought the sending off. Sean does have a habit of not doing things quickly enough, and even his finger pointing at officials was far slower than Jamie Vardy's.

Just really meant to quote the last sentence of your post. Whenever I see two Thistle players running through 2 v 1 on the keeper, I have recurring nightmares of Darren Brady and Stevie Nicholas making a total hash of it against Stranraer in the play offs about 10 years ago. So I was quite happy to see Amoo take it on himself, albeit unsuccessfully.

A fit Stuart Bannigan would be a more than adequate replacement

With a name like Baptiste he would be ideal for the Scottish climate. Used to getting soaked all over.

I suppose Mandron's got appeal, is used to a white change strip, has plenty of juice in the tank, but tends to play only in segments.

TJR, a competitive fixture is one in which the fans go nut if Thistle score, jumping in the air if seated or moving around excitedly if already standing. If we stay in the same place and clap politely, that's a friendly.

If Scott Fox had not let Dundee"s shot for their 3rd goal go through his body, we would be top of the league.

Every time I see this goal it gets better. The BBC highlights showed that Lawless was involved in the early part of the move at the half way line before linking again at the edge of the box. Loved the way he slid after the ball following his first slightly heavy touch to make sure he got there first to divert it to Erskine.

1) Even though Ziggy won the ball, it was a tackle from the rear, so by strict letter of the law, no complaints about a yellow. Given that it was the first serious challenge only 3 minutes in, maybe a referee with a bit more flexibility and understanding than yesterday's robot might have issued a strong warning first. 2) ICT player not booked on that occasion and in general they had to work a lot harder to get themselves into the book than our players did. 3) Sorry you couldn't make it, but hopefully you will be at Firhill for more good matches (and wins) as the season progresses.

The first goal was a brilliant team move topped off by a sublime finish from Erskine. Booth and Lawless were the chief "assisters", but the move went back several passes even before Booth got on the ball. I was going to downgrade the second goal as a bit of a sclaff, but in its own way it was a fine team effort as well. Welsh accurate free kick, Osman excellent header across, Lindsay does well to divert the ball goalwards, and Amoo feeds off the scraps. 4 players all doing good work. A spectacular goal from open play and a scramble into the net from a set piece. I can see us scoring many more of both types of goal than we seemed capable of doing last season.

Dundee have sneaked to the top by virtue of more goals scored, having won 3-1

Have tried to make use of the WiFi but my attempt has been dismissed. I admit that I have only been following Thistle regularly for 20 years. Do I not qualify as s PTFC Supporter?

Pretty even and disjointed game. Erskine goal was brilliant team move and great finish. One of the few moments of quality.

Stuart Cosgrove on Off the Ball this morning was lamenting that St Johnstone had lost "all twelve" points to Thistle last season.