partickthedog

Best performance this half by the referee. Can only remember about 3 free kicks and no bookings. A fussy ref could have kept his blowing his whistle and making the game more disjointed. He is doing all he can to keep what there is of a game moving. First time I have gone through 45 minutes without once shouting at the ref.

It's an Mbuyers' market.

Not worth opening a special thread, so will post this here on the theme of League Cup. Hearts "field" (yes, he actually played for 25 minutes-not an unused substitute) an ineligible player against Cove Rangers. They initially obtained 3 points for winning the match, but then had the book thrown at them by the SPFL. Our courageous football masters docked them 2 whole points, but credited them the 3 they already had. Net result, they broke the rules, albeit no doubt unintentionally, but still gained 1 point from the game. I presume that there are no points for Cove. Where is the justice in that? Would the outcome have been the same if the transgressor had been Cove Rangers or even Partick Thistle? I am sure in the past that wee teams have been thrown out of competitions for similar carelessness. I would not go that far, but a 3-0 win (both in goals and in points) to Cove seems about right to me. Is this a Cover up?

Thought I would kick off the match thread for tomorrow night by recalling my first visit to Cliftonhill. Early in the game Thistle were awarded a free kick, and an angry group of spectators next to me all bedecked in red and yellow began shouting at the referee. It did not make sense to me until I realised that there was no segregation and these were Albion Rovers fans. I can also remember a Scottish Cup tie played in a gale so ferocious that any attempted vertical clearance would come flying straight back towards the goal area. Each side scored one wind assisted goal and amazingly towards the end we secured the win with a Danny Lennon daisycutter against the wind. Enough of the history. Any thoughts on team selection and tactics for tomorrow?

https://www.derrynow.com/sport/celebrations-commiserations-2018-foyle-cup-comes-end-winners/238393 I hope this link works. As you will see Partick ThistleWeir under 15s won the Foyle Cup, a major youth football tournament in Northern Ireland extending over several days. I have also seen a tweet including a video of the lads celebrating by singing "Maryhill is Wonderful"! I have no other details as to how many teams TW played and which side they beat in the final or what any of the scores were. But given the prestige of this tournament and the number of teams competing and the level of some of the other age group winning teams (including such as Sheffield United and Heart of Midlothian ), this is an excellent success and congratulations are due to players and coaches alike. Additional more complete information from others welcomed.

Speaking of insider knowledge, from my carefully cultivated contacts with people at all levels of football throughout Scotland, I can exclusively reveal that a Dundee United fan known as Orange and BlackNeck, whose auntie makes the tea at Tannadice, is spitting tangerine pips because his team missed out on Shea Gordon and Jack Storer, and have instead blown a large part of their salary budget on duds from Partick Thistle and Falkirk.

STOREY STORER SCORER

Plus Archie himself for the first half of the season. Christie Elliott also played a fair part, though mostly from the bench. Andy Dowie and Jordan McMillan joined in for the latter part of the season.

"Eventuate" sounds like the kind of word Donald Trump would tweet and then feign astonishment that nobody else had a clue what he was talking about. It does have an air of patience and gravitas about it.

eventuate?

Well done t4c1. And thank you again to BB & 11-1.

Any Bowen Boys tie splitting process has to involve Brechin City.

Agree with everybody else. Very appropriate.

Erskine had a good second half as did Jamie Sneddon the sub goalie. Jack Storer is the new Bryan Hodge!

Great moves and finishes for both goals. Almost scored a third through Doolan a few minutes later (good save by Smith), but have since lacked a bit of inspiration. Spittal and Penrice showing up well. McGinty certainly a no nonsense hoof it in the air defender! Storer looks a player and has a locker of tricks and skills. Likes to lie deep. Will he be able to deliver effectively against the stronger teams? Not quite happening yet for Doolan and Erskine but that will come.

Would probably agree, if Mbappe shines and Pogba produces his best. However, the longer the game goes, if Croatia are still in there, then I can see the pendulum swinging. Croatia have a very strong mentality which may carry them through extra time and penalties, if necessary. With Iniesta's retirement (at least from the international scene), Luka Modric is now the world's best "keep the ball moving and link up play" type midfielder.

Ditto from me, although I did miss Brechin City

Colin Stewart was the absolute master of that particular art!

Sweden have never really replaced Peter Lindau. Even Henrik Larsson and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were but poor reflections.

Archie did not say anything like the above in his JagZone interview! The only vague grain of accuracy was that there had been no movement on the Transferlisted Three and that resolving their situations would help to clarify matters for Archie. However, this was not stopping him from still doing the business of endeavouring to make new signings. He did seem to concede that Jack Storer would need to screw the nut!

Maybe none of our midfielders want to play out wide, so by playing this at Central Park we can tell them that they are all Central midfielders.

Liked the way Slater managed to use the words "new slate" in his JagZone interview.

Thought these words showed a creditable attitude on Blair Spittal's part: “I think that the idea of leaving didn’t really sit right with me. Ultimately I was part of the team that got relegated and I feel I owe it to the club and the fans to stick by Thistle and give my all to get us back up"

You could email the club about this, but I suspect that you would just get a stock answer.

Unfortunately BowenBoys is indisposed this morning, so he has asked me to announce two special 20 point bonuses: (1) for anyone who achieved a perfect pre-selection of one surviving team for each quarter final game and therefore did not require to bother BB by sending in any choices. (2) for anyone who correctly predicts a Sweden victory in the quarter finals as BB's indisposition is due to a seasonal condition known as ECH or English Commentators Headache. PTD pp BB