partickthedog

Hi Jags on Tour. I hope all is well round Uig Bay. Personally I would keep Alston on the bench and bring in Stanway, with McInroy moving forward. I also hope that the slight lack of midfielders allows for some decent game time for James Lyon.

Not sure if this is the right solution but I do appreciate that there is a problem which it would be helpful to address. Speaking neutrally as a fan of open attacking football it always annoys me when a player beats another player with a bit of trickery, or a player is sprung forward through an enterprising series of quick passes, a defender will often wrestle the player in possession to the ground and stifle the promising move at birth. Occasionally that defender is the last man and is rightfully red carded. However, 90% of the time the offending player is lauded as “taking one for the team”. Indeed a player can often be criticised for not fouling an opponent early on in a move that leads to an attack. A yellow card does not really help the other team (unless it goes to make up a red). Therefore the defending side has killed the move and got away Scot free. There is definitely a case for a more effective remedy to discourage cynical fouls. Not sure if the blue card is the best idea, but willing to give it a try.

David Martindale agrees with you. His (Martindale’s) BBC interview was hilarious.

What a strange and tawdry episode. It does Adams no credit whatsoever. Lots of managers give their best, but it does not work out for them. Most learn from the experience, and in time bounce back and/or move on, perhaps finding their level along the way, maybe in a different sort of role. Difficult to discern any of this in such a sad and angry cameo.

Thank you for that. Out of Thistle loyalty (and being there to witness both goal and astonished celebration) I voted for Banzo, but would be equally delighted if James Craigen won it.

When was the thread started for the Cowdenbeath game?

R&YB Thistle, surely?

Easy choices. Underdogs all with home advantage which should level up the playing field. HHHH Thanks BB

You don't sound very bitter at all!

When you apply my "double your points" bonus for being the only person to predict that Hibs would beat Glasgow City, I will be only 1 point behind Very Bitter Jag.

Were you not thinking of Shergar?

Wonderful turn of phrase! And I agree with the last part of what you say as well. Denis always comes across as someone who is very grateful for so many things.

I thought that the plan was for James Lyon to go out on loan, but maybe other things that had to happen first have not fallen into place and/or a suitable team has not been found. Perhaps he would have had to look to League 1 to get a starting place. However, it did occur to me on Saturday that he would be uniquely suited to Airdrie's style of play with lots of movement in the attacking midfield area and sharp passes to feet between nimble players.

Not so sure about Banzo, but Stevie was certainly teetering on the edge of a red card. He was the victim of a series of poor decisions by the referee, not being given a free kick when fouled, and being penalised for nothing much. For some reason the referee choose to book him for a minor playing the ball away after a free kick was awarded against him when similar actions by others had gone unpunished. Stevie seemed to be getting aggressive with his frustrated verbals and therefore removing him from the scene was a wise choice.

Ben Stanway was excellent when he came on. Hope he can start next time. More energy than McInroy, Alston and Robinson combined. Robinson did not hit the heights of last week. I would play James Lyon ahead of the 3 mentioned above.

First 15/20 minutes we were absolutely excellent. Airdrie then worked their way back to equality. Airdrie do play a unique game, totally different from say Morton. Their goal not total surprise. Sneddon seemed at fault in not securing the ball. Our equaliser came from nowhere but was assured and clever finish by Adeloye. Can we get the tactics right in the second half?

Agreed that O’Reilly for Muirhead is the only possible change. I think that the key may be whether Robinson can recapture his excellent form from last week. If so, I can see his activism disrupting Airdrie’s characteristic tactic of playing out from the back and picking out the free runner in midfield.

In the early part of the season McMillan was out for quite some time injured, and Milne was not playing at the high level he has thankfully now reached again, plus I think he might have had some injury absence as well as definitely a suspension after his red card at Morton. At that time Ngwenya filled in pretty well on both sides (although naturally more comfortable on the left) and had a fair bit of pace on the recovery if caught upfield (inevitable in our style of play). As said above, he would not now start ahead of Milne or McMillan, but would be a very solid option to have on the bench.

The ability to be omnipresent may be useful when playing football in one location and simultaneously coaching another team 50 miles away.

Is that the James McFadden?

I would regard Graham’s situation as relatively minor in the overall scheme of things. He can miss the Arbroath game. We have a squad and are well used to covering absences for all sorts of reasons. What is far more serious is leaving Thistle fans with the impossible choice as to which team to support on the day. The media seem to be focusing on Graham and ignoring the wider issue for the supporters. This will also affect attendance at both games.

Easy choices AHAHHAHH

So we have never done it twice in one season. An opportunity to make history!

Very convincing win today. Well on top even when it was 11 v 11, and managed the game effectively in horrendous conditions. The second goal was a spectacular long range shot. Thistle both hungrier and more skillful. Hibs seemed strangely lethargic. It may be that the early bookings and eventual red card made them nervous about making strong challenges. The victory is even more commendable when you remember that it is a part-time team coming up against a hybrid full-time/part-time team who are able to train together far more often. As regards the final, the position of Brian Graham as coach of one team and captain of the other is an unfortunate clash. However, the far more fundamental aspect of having the men's team and the women's team playing at the same time is the splitting of the potential Thistle support, which will be vital for both games. Moving one of the games to the Sunday seems to be the sensible option, but when did common sense have anything to do with such decisions?

The pyrotechnics at the start of the game will not have helped our cause either. Not sure what sort of "comprehension bypass" I am suffering from, but I cannot understand why anyone would bring one (or more) of such things into a football match.