partickthedog

He was only one year older when he did become manager!

When at the game last night, I thought that Yak's goal was a simple tap in, due to the quality of Chalmers' cross. Looking at the highlights, while the cross was still perfect. Yak had a bit left to do to tuck it past the keeper, and it was a very tidy finish.

I agree that it is Joe, but he does have an amazingly Aero-like facial expression and haircut.

Referee was dreadful tonight. I never mind too much if a referee makes a wrong decision if he has not had the best view of whatever happened. However, some of the decisions tonight were perverse. I presume he thought that we were all there to watch him. Amazed that no QP player was booked. Graham was cynically hacked down in the second half. Ref rightly played advantage as we continued to attack, but then should have gone back to book the QP player.

Chalmers is brilliant. Scored a great goal and laid the the other one on a plate for Jakubiak (who is fast becoming a cult hero!). QP were incredibly passive. They never cut loose as most teams would, desperately seeking an equaliser. If I had been a QP fan, I would surely have been demanding more from my team. Bud was very sound in all that he did, but his only save of note was from a shot on the angle which you would expect him to make. The only worrying moment was when the ball bounced into our 6 yard box and the QP forward just failed to get a touch. Ashcroft, O'Reilly and McBeth all dominant and let little past them. I thought Turner did well when he came on, so suspect he will start next time. Rae was good and chased hard all night. Megwa has rather timid in the first half but got forward well in the second half.

Fantastic goal by Chalmers. Rivalling Stanway for goal of the season. Next half hour no urgency from QP and we followed their lead. Then we had a 5 minute flurry. Banzo unlucky when long range shot hit the post and Ferrie made a few saves. After that game settled back down till halftime. Bud no shots to save. At some point QP must push forward which hopefully will give us chances on the counter.

OK BB, I am gunning for a place in the first XI. MEN HH WOMEN AA Many thanks, as always.

I am not surprised that the team ran out of steam on the hour mark last Saturday after the hard shift they put in against Livingston the night before.

I sense the hand of Vlad.

Regarding your last point, it might be more helpful not to appoint referees who are also working as poultry farmers.

An 8 second rule on forum posts would keep them all short and sweet.

Good set of results for us today, the only slight quibble being that I would have preferred Queens Park not to gain so much goal difference. Queens Park, Raith and Morton are all going to have to look behind as well as in front, as Hamilton and Dunfermline are creeping up.

Admin. Just want to add my thanks for all the time and hard work you have put into the forum over the years, and please be assured that this has been hugely appreciated. Wishing you and your partner everything good at this time and for the future, and hope that you will be provided with all the help and support you need. As one of the more lighthearted posters, i have really enjoyed reading and responding to all manner of interesting chat about players and games past and present, and sometimes future as well. I would also pay tribute to others such as Thistle Archive who have brought so much informative and entertaining material to us. Looking back I will soon forget the relentless and repetitive hammering of negative agendas, and memories of the forum will all be positive. It has always been great to have quirky perspectives, and the occasional injection of humour of varying quality. Lovely to meet some of you in person as well and to form some lasting friendships. Sadly I do not have the available time or necessary technical expertise to be a forum administrator/moderator, but if anyone else is feeling the hand of history upon them, and that this is the moment to step forward and either preserve the current forum or launch a new one (I am not an expert on the respective merits of these options), you will have my encouragement and my gratitude.

Logan Chalmers wrapped up the player of the month award. Good touch from Brian Graham in the JagZone interview, deflecting all the praise from himself to Chalmers. Really enjoyed the game last night. The team put everything into it and won a much higher percentage than usual of 50-50 balls. Only question mark would be as regards the lack and lateness of substitutions. JagZone highlights well illustrate the balance of play with Livingston becoming dominant in the final 25 minutes as Thistle tired. Referee very lenient with Livingston's constant fouling in first half. A few deserved bookings then may have resulted in sendings off in the second half.

You couldn't have failed to notice Robbie Crawford's new haircut! Looked a different player. Not normally a fan of Crawford, but he was everywhere tonight, as well as putting in a strong shift in the left forward slot which helped Josh Rae have a really good game as well.

Are you sure that this is not a Norge Thistle pin? It certainly looks like him. What 2 absolutely fantastic goals! I was there in Inverness, but I had not realised what a long distance from goal the free kick was. What I do remember was the constantly driving rain which did not let up all the way up the A9, right through the game and all the way back for a 1am return. Happy days!

Everything said about Mark indicates the high regard in which he was held, and the huge contribution he made to PTFC in general and the DSA in particular. Will be applauding loudly tomorrow night. Condolences to all family and friends.

The one goal was a late consolation away to Ayr in a game where we were already well beaten. It did receive a disproportionately large cheer, probably because he seemed such a nice guy and we were all genuinely pleased for him!

Somehow we need to get 2 wide players firing simultaneously. Chalmers has done so pretty consistently for the past couple of months. For various and different reasons, Fitzpatrick, Lawless and Mackay have not been able to do so, and Ablade (though doing some good things) does not seem to be that type of player. Which of these 4 (or perhaps someone else to come from left field) is going to have the form, fitness and motivation to pick up the mantle?

Not forgetting his long throws.

I think that there is something in that. I suspect that fitness can be measured in many different ways, all of which are equally valid, but for different purposes. I find it hard to believe that professional footballers coached full-time by professional coaches will not be fit by some metrics, but maybe these are not the metrics really needed. For example you could measure fitness by how many times in a row you can run up Cleveden Hill dragging a tractor tyre behind you. Or it may be something to do with these devices players wear which churn out numerous statistics about ground covered, number of sprints etc. I think what Jaggernaut and I are looking for is that mental freshness which means that you are sharp and on your toes, ready to move and react quickly and effectively to whatever the opposition throw at you and/or the opportunities that suddenly present themselves. It is not that the players noticeably tire so that they perform worse towards the end of the game than they do at the beginning. It is more that they are equally poor, stodgy, and slow of thought and action throughout the game. Let us hope that whatever "fitness" Brian Graham and Mark Wilson want to improve produces a more dynamic and initiative taking performance from first to final whistle.

This should create some vacancies on the BBC Sportsound pundit team, which hopefully Kris Doolan can fill.

I take it to mean that the board will issue an update about the interim management team sometime this afternoon.

I think that there is a quite reasonable argument to the effect that Kris Doolan's legendary status led to him being removed somewhat earlier than might otherwise have been the case. I think that I commented last week (and the same theme was echoed on the Draw Lose or Draw podcast) that I was relieved that the decision was taken when it was, before matters perhaps took a more ugly turn. I do not think that many people whether board members and/or fans would have wanted a scenario to transpire especially at Firhill where fans were shouting in forceful terms for Doolan's departure. With another manager (take for example Gary Caldwell) there would perhaps be less worry about a nasty shout fest developing, and the board might be willing to dig in and batten down the hatches for a while longer.

You managed to do your shorter post while I was composing my longer one!