cjag78

Fair enough I agree on his day he can change a game. But has he had many if any of those days this year? Going by stats and by being at games, Lawless has been the most creative player! Osman has been consistent all year...Surely that deserves a contract over our best player (last year)

Osman has been one of our best players this year, Higgy has massively under performed, would be no where near the top 5 performers this year... I'm sorry but 3 good months last season doesn't make you irreplaceable! Get Osman signed up ASAP!

Love the Doolan stats!!! Really enjoy reading these! Good work. Could be wrong, but I'm sure Lawless has 8 assists this year?

I assumed you would be wise enough to work out in which context i was using the word so sorry i didnt explain that in easier terms for you. The toddler type slanging match is getting old really fast, i am willing to concede and let you get on with the housekeeping as i am no longer bothered about or expecting an intelligent answer.I also have absolute sh*t to watch on telly that takes precidence over this quite easily.

My opinion is simply that and if its sh*t its sh*t but i am as intitled as anyone else to voice it. I never said He thought he was better than any other player i said i thought him forbes and baird were better than elliott or craigen; two guys that played a handfull of games each last year and that i m not really impressed with this year if i m honest, but again thats just my opinion. I think we have been creating chances all season just not converting them we were doing that with stevie in the team aswell and as for the twitter thing i only checked his twitter to see what had been said after being prompted by comments on here and i never saw anything on there about team selections i fail to see where the spoilt pr*ck attitude towards a player that was imense last season is coming from on here is there something i have missed. I dont see why commenting on him being left out of a team when he hasnt signed a deal is bonkers it happens all the time all over the world and i certainly didnt mean it to be disrespectfull to anybody but i still think it is a valid comment, archie could be giving the guys who are tied up more game time because he doesnt know if stevies going to sign or it could be the dip in form but he wont aclimatise to this league the way doolan is starting to from the bench, and he certainly wont do it with fans on his back.

Please give your specialist insights and give me a chance to defend my opinion instead of waiting on another halfwit to retort to your insult making you feel justified. I thought the whole point of a fans forum was to be able to express your opinion or gain information on matters concerning your club, not to insult fellow fans that might have a different take or opinion from you. The funny thing is i put my opinion out there and i am happy to have it scrutinised or disagreed with i somehow doubt you would feel the same if anyone disagreed with yours.

Agreed.

Fair doos and quite right about forbes it just riles me when jags supporters get tore into there own players.

Elaborate .

I ve jist been on his twitter to see what this is about he replied with lol when asked why he and forbes were not playing so how is that a question on team selection i think he should block the guys who think they have a right to make crap comments to him or for that matter just make stuff up.

His form was pants because he was carrying an injury, he uses the ball better than any other player we have and when he does lose the ball more often than not he will fight to get it back. Lets no beat about the bush here, on his day he is a cracking player and it now looks as if football politics are coming into play, maybe because he hasnt signed a new deal ? bit unfair if thats the case cos neither has sinclair and both paton and erskine didnt get dropped despite comitting there future careers to dundee utd in jan last year. I would also rather he was peed off about not starting rather than not giving a hoot it means he does actually care about playing for the club and not being in the team. Can someone enlighten me on the fuss he has made about a new contract aswell i canny be reading the right papers and the players in this league arent a foot taller or wider than the ones from last year so i canny accept the bullied excuse either that keeps cropping up when your no the biggest, he got kicked about all last year but because he was scoring goals and tied up for a while it was fine. Another thing that might be annoying him is the fact that craigen and elliott are getting a shout before him aswell lawless forbes and baird for that matter are all better players than both of them and anyone who has played the game ( and i have albeit a while ago now ) will be able to see that archie is chucking in the bigger of the guys hes got instead of the ones with obvious attributes and ability. If it is a case that he is waiting to see what sort of contract comes from elsewhere then thats up to him if the deal that we offered him wasnt right for him, it is after all his or any other players job, do you really think higgy and osbourne would have signed for us if they were offered better deals elswhere.I remember welsh dragging his heels a bit aswell at the start of the season and didnt see him getting villafied for his deal not being right the same time as the other guys, i reckon maybe he was wanting more than what was on offer at the time and maybe got it. I know it shouldnt always come down to money but football is a very short career and any person in any workplace has the right to make more money or work in a better environment if they so choose or are given that opportunity why should that change if your a footballer. I thought at times today we could have done with a bit of craft espescially when izaguire looked completly out of it for about 15 - 20 mins, higgy looked shattered and wasnt tracking back late on in the game why not chuck lawless or even baird on for the last wee while we had only made two subs. I thought craigen or even welsh ( who was complete gash today ) should have been off before bannigan i also never saw craigen win a physical battle all day, does that mean he got bullied ? and for me we again made it easy for the opposition to score and conceding goals is worse than not scoring them, the defence need to wise up and nobody is talking about them getting bullied at set pieces or open play which is basically what is happening to them.

Dae u actually support thistle m8 cos you've never got a good word to say on here. we still have three quarters of the season to go and your already calling some in the team flops.I ve been to every game this season home and away and i missed three last year i would hardly call any of the boys flops in fact i would say most of them are trying to hold there own and probably trying there best to compete with players that are better than they are used to and managers that are more tactically aware. Also the teams playing youngsters you are talking about are established spl clubs that have bigger budgets and scouting networks than us, it really is sad to see fans stick the boot in to there own team at any opportunity, the boys we have got earned the right to play in this league by winning a trophy last year, they are not world beaters and did anybody really think this would be anything but a hard season. Unfortunatley we are not blessed with an abundance of cash to go and get three or four top class players so our manager who is on a massive learning curve the same as his young team is working with the tools at his disposal and although they havn't set the heather on fire they have created alot of chances and in spells have done really well, yes we need to convert the chances but more importantly we need to stop gifting goals, we have had one clean sheet this season against Dundee utd on the first day that is the real worry for me, and in 12 competitive matches we have scored 14 and conceded 16 how are strikers supposed to have confidence to go forward if the defence is letting them down. Hearts, Hibs, Kilmarnock all had one chance and scored with them and all for me were defensive mistakes that is the difference between 3 points and 9, St johnstone had a few chances but again a defensive error cost us in that match, if the back line had seen those games out without the mistakes and took maximum points we would be tied top with celtic. The team we have is doing ok and the only real gubbings we have had were the first half at Motherwell, Aberdeen ( a team most in the game are tipping to be second this year ) and Dundee utd ( arguably the best strike force outside Celtic ) other than that we have competed well but been a bit wet behind the ears. Bottom line, let the manager and his team learn and let them know we can see them through the bad times as well as the good, i am sure the boys are hurting after a game they know they have dominated and come away with a mugging the last thing they or for that matter fans that want to support there team positivly need to hear is them getting labeled flops.

Totally agree.

Zola is a diddy, Piccolo cost us that game.and unfortunately the lower end of the table clubs are paying there players double - treble what we are so can attract an ever so slightly better calibre. It is swings and roundabouts, does the club risk an inflated wage for goals then we still concede like in previous games, or do they make do with what they have and hope Hearts Kille and St Mirren capitulate. Archie picked Piccolo, his subs have been rank and like for like subs is not game changing tactics, and as far as i can see apart from Osbourne and maybe Higgy his signings have been pants and Kerr is a complete waste of a wage maybe we could have used that extra money for the striker we so desperatly need.

Your completly right m8 there is to much negativity we are supposed to be thistle supporters, and were no Barcalona.

Forbes is also slow and greedy and at times the quality he has lets him down aswell, Elliott for all his endevour isnt half the player Lawless is on his day and twice in this match Stevie was blatently shoved and a better ref would have given him fouls for both. The problem with scottish football for years has been the mentality with coaches that if your not big enough your not good enough and that is why players like Lawless get this lightweight crap thrown at them all the time. I would rather watch 11 guys like stevie than watch 11 lumps punt the ball like NFL quarterbacks all night. Bottom line is what everyone and there granny has been saying since the start of the season, we need a striker that will take the chances that guys like Lawless , Bannigan and Higginbotham are making but unfortunatly the club are not in the wage bracket to be competing for the same players as Kilmarnock, Hibs, St mirren and the likes. For me Lawless was decent tonight and it would be interesting to see his stats cos i reckon he probably had most passes completed in the game with some cracking cross fielders as well, I ve said this before aswell he is left footed yet seems to be stuck out on the right all the time when last year him and Erskine would switch flanks quite often throughout a match which gave us more of a variation to our attacks and also kind of stops teams man marking you like aberdeen and motherwell done to him. Issac was again superb he is becoming a bit of a machine for us and higgy was great in spells and wastefull in others, but the most worrying thing is not being able to keep a clean sheet, i really thought Conrads distribution was poor tonight and he put his team mates in trouble on more than one occasion, it was peeing doon aswell remember which probably didn't help and in this league there are players that have the quality to take the one chance to score when it comes there way like Boyd done for Kilmarnock thats what comes when you pay the higher wages. I doubt any of the boys go out on to the pitch to have a shanner and its our job as fans to give them support whether they are our favourites or not , they are still wearing thistle shirts after all.

Great first half but in the second we were guilty of letting them play a bit,I was really impressed with dools and think he will get better and better the more games he gets, i also thought bannigan was much improved until he stopped chasing and i also saw him shirk at least two challenges again. Higginbottom had three men round him when he got the ball for most of the second aswell but i thought any threat we had dissapeared when he went of and appart from a few powder puff shots Elliot did nothing for 90 mins, i am happy to be corrected but i dont remember him having a great game when he has started.Gallagher could have done better with there goal it looked like it went right under him from where i was but the defence were guilty of letting them get the shot off. I also think in the last 20 christie and bannigan looked shattered and would have liked to have seen forbes and lawless come on forbes must be wondering what he needs to do to get a run in the team, he has been decent when he has got in.There defence looked tired and Lawless, Forbes and ( i might get shot for saying this but ) Baird would have caused them problems and if those two were on with fresh legs we would have maybe took the three points and i just dont understand Craigen for higginbottom when youve got attacking options on the bench. All in all it is a good point away from home and for most of the game we looked much better than them. P.s. Murray Davidson is a p***k and should have been aff, he did nothing but foul all day ( i counted seven ) and it took the ref till 70 mins to speak to him.

For me if i m being brutaly honest there are a few that haven't adjusted yet and as i said before they are all young and learning, i also think that rounding on any one player is a bit much, especially when he's no been the worst. It's clear to me that everybody has different favourite's and villan's, and player's no matter what team they play for will have people who like them and people who don't, maybe auldyin's comment's could be seen as defensive or otherwise but so could harry wragg's on more than two occasion's he has mentioned the wage thing which considering stevie has said he is still in talk's with the club could be seen as maybe knowing a bit more than most aswell, if so let me know lol. I think most folk can see from my post's that i m a fan of the wee man for me he was as big an influence as Erskine, Paton, Doolan or any other fan's favourite last year and i really enjoy the way he plays the game it's a shame we are even here talking in this manner about a guy who was pivitol to our success last year and after a handfull of game's is getting pelter's from some, remember we are talking about a guy who has not long become a dad recently if i remember rightly which is also a big job and another doozy of a learning curve to be on( they are human being's after all ). Anyway he is a thistle player the noo,and he deserve's support like the rest of the squad not slur's and criticism's let's keep them for the opposing player's. I think when you've shipped 8 goal's in three game's the cause for concern should be aimed at the defence, we are creating chance's but not putting them away i know, but we are shipping goal's aswell and if i remember rightly Goodwille gave conrad a torrid time at firhill and if sharper could have had a couple that night. I am pretty sure being a defender himself archie will be working on this. St johnstone will be another tough test for the boy's this week and i hope they can get the wee bit of luck they need to get the fan's back on side because it seem's to me as if some are just a bit eager to stick the boot in.

Lawless said on the telly at the weekend he was in talks with the club was enjoying being at thistle and being part of the current squad imo he has definatley not been the worst, the comments about him wanting to much money seem only to be coming from one poster on here so i think until we know all the facts he is still a thistle player that needs our support, if i got dropped after having a bad shift i would have been on jobseekers for the last ten years lol, who knows maybe he has been under the weather or carrying a wee injury. I think the full team and also archie need time to adjust to playing against better players and coming up against managers who are a bit more savvy. Stuart Mcall is a manager who obviously knows stevie well and had Hamill man marking him at fir park that to me says that he thinks he is danger, Derek Mcinnes also had Reynolds man marking him when Aberdeen came to firhill an ex motherwell player by coincidence or did he give his manager a heads up ? Mcinnes had also done his homework because aberdeen set out from kick off to contain our full backs. I said in a previous thread that i think we were a spoiled bunch last year, but the speed at which some are getting upset is alarming i think after last years heroics all of the boys deserve the reward of playing in the division they all worked hard to get to and did we add players that are visable better than what we had ? i dont think so. I have also said aswell that the players are on a steep learning curve this year if they were seasoned pros maybe i would be thinking a bit different but there not they are young and maybe a wee bit wet behind the ears just now but they will get better, lets be the twelvth man again instead of talking cr@p about how poor theyve been singling players out and looking for scapegoats.

I ve got to be brutally honest and say that when i saw the line up tonight i did fear the worst. Piccolo - Arguably the worst performance from a defender i ve ever seen against aberdeen - why not stick osbourne in there i saw him play against celtic at centre half and he done ok, he is big strong and got a bit of dig about him. Kerr - Dundee fans glad to see the back of him and hasnt kicked a ball all season for us, can only assume archie has seen something in training. Forbes - deserved a start so i m not arguing with that but i think hes to greedy at times. Elliot - deserved his start as well after saturday and got a goal something doolan and baird havent managed recently i wouldnt grumble if he got a start up front. Alot of people have been saying drop lawless and such but i really dont think he has been the worst by a long chalk and he can split defences wide with one pass even if he isnae at the races i would like to see him and elliot together to see if christies drive can compliment the wee guys creativity. Fraser had agreat start to the season then had a shocker at motherwell but i think he is a better shout than kerr for a place in midfield. Probably a we bit of experimenting from archie and i hope this doesnt hurt the boys to much we have got to remember they are a very young team there still learning.

Bannigan was a complete passenger for the majority of the game today much like Craigen was against Aberdeen saw him shirk out of a few challenges and in general just looked right of the pace someone commented on wee lawless's form the last few but banzo has been rotten since the scottish u21's got pumped off England. I also thought Muirhead was shocking in the second half along with sod and if not for osbourne and Fox killie could have had a couple more. Doolan done more in ten mins than Baird has all season so far for me he should start all the time with Baird and Elliott the impact subbies. I suppose at the end of the day we were kind of a spoiled bunch last year when our team was flying all season and dishing out gubbings every other week. For me we are doing ok with a very young squad who are on a massive learning curve.They are playing against better players and managers who do there homework they won't have great games every week but it is important that we support them I honestly think we will get stronger as the season goes on. We should also enjoy this team while we have got it because it is inevitable that teams will come in for our better players eg Fox Lawless Bannigan Sinclair and such and I don't grudge any player who wants to make more money after all they are guys like us with bills and families I certainly wouldn't say no to a pay rise or better facilities in my workplace..

All credit to aberdeen they done there homework they imposed themselves on the game early and won there battles all over the pitch hopefully its a lesson learned by the team and archie. I know he is the captain but it looked to early for welsh to be back and osbourne had done well against st mirren I ve also seen osbourne play at centre half for aberdeen before and with piccolo getting a beasting from audley harrison i would have stuck him in there at half time. Lawless wasn't his usual self it looked as if reynolds was man marking him same as hammill at motherwell and i think when baird is playing he takes alot of the space up that we see lawless use when dools is in the team. I also thought craigen had a really poor game today his shoulders were down and he was pointing the finger all over the park from about ten mins in, forbes has looked decent when coming on and probably deserves a start in front of him now. Last year we saw lawless and erskine switch wings or drop in behind the striker and i personaly thought that worked a treat if it wasn't happening at one end try and have a go on the other, higginbottom is no doubt a good player who can cause problems but i do think he looks a bit greedy at times and could release the ball a bit quicker when others have maybe lost there man rather than take extra touches. On the day the better team won and the boys will need to step up next week for kilmarnock i would maek a few changes for that and freshen the team up a bit, my team for next week would be Fox O'donnell Muirhead Balatoni ( if fit ) if not Osbourne Sinclair Bannigan Welsh Forbes Lawless Higginbottom Doolan I would also give Elliot a shout as a sub before Baird cause i think there's more chance he would score. P.S. Piccolo wouldn't get near the under 20's after his showing today.

dunno about single handedly winning a match, lawless set his goal up for him scored the second and won the penalty foxy's save's especially the penalty one were pretty important and muirhead sticking yet another penalty away all deserve more credit for me. i do agree he probably deserves a shout in an spl game but who do you drop doolan and baird have more about them in terms of experience and effectivness and i personally think elliot is more of an impact player for the latter stages in a match which baird has been doing recently.i know he's been used on the wing but i dont think he's anywhere near lawless, bannigan or craigen for that matters level and i think even though he's slower than a week in the jail you get more in a match from forbes. i personaly would leave out kerr for him he has been largly ineffective in the games i ve seen him in.

thought we deserved a draw down to the performance in the last half hour, motherwell however done a job on us they nulified our fullbacks and had lawless man marked by hamill, lawless noticed early on this was happening and moved infield taking hamill with him but for some reason fraser , bannigan , and sod were having absolute stinkers and couldnt use the space this was creating. i thought fraser in particular was very poor and was only rivaled in that department by banzo , they are both young tho and hopefully theyve learned that they are going to need a wee bit extra in this league. there is still a long way to go and i am still a happy jag, a big target man in before the window shuts and were fine. the boys are all on a learning curve just now and last years players deserve there chance there a good group and they will learn quick especially with the backing of the fans. i m sure we will get the bangers back at firhill.

Imo i think lawless could be a big player for us again this year. people will say he's untried at that level but he was a pro youth at motherwell for ten years and was in around the first team from 17 playing and training with spl class players so he probably knows a wee bit about what to expect from that level, he was also at a team that by all acounts was hard to get into as motherwell have been a top six side over the last few years. I have a few well fan's in my work who said they were sad to see him go.he played and scored in the scottish cup for motherwell not long before leaving, had been named on the bench in the spl a number of times and had two succesfull loan periods, one that resulted in promotion from division 3 with albion rovers, so he has been kicked about a bit. I think we do need a big striker who has a bit of experience for him to play off,he is a hard worker, has ability, has great movement, can see a pass and can chip in with a goal or two, he finished runner up on goals last year by 1 and finished with most assists i honestly think some other spl teams would be happy to have him in there team and think in the spl he will get free kick's if player's try to bully him. I m going to be positive and say i think if we get a striker in we will be able to live with team's like st mirren, killie, hibs and hearts and both motherwell and aberdeen have alot of new players to bed in so may take time to find there feet. Hopefully we can keep mark kerr fit who is a very good player on his day, forbes, welsh, balatoni, murray and baird who have been in the spl and droped down step up to the plate,the young play without fear and the guy's who are getting there first shot at the spl grab the chance and everybody gives a good account of themselve's. Anyway this has ended up a bit more epic than i was expecting prob's the drink, bring on friday and moan the jag's.