Bleeding Gums Murphy

Approach Kevin Thomson

We were speaking about this yesterday funnily enough. Sneddon broke the club clean sheet record last season & had a number of saves that ultimately got us the points required to scrape into play offs. Think the fact he’s been dropped & playing behind a clown keeper has probably shot his confidence- along with the fact he’s more than aware manager doesn’t rate him. Take your point re Arthur tho. Another who needs cleared out. Been there too long & if he’s telling McCall that Mitchell a better keeper then Sneddon when watching them train & play then he’s every bit as culpable.

Which makes the continual picking of him as first choice all the more bizarre. Think we all know McCall not a fan of Sneddon as started with the Hearts boy Stone last season before he was injured. Sneddon (& defence in general) confidence is shot & the last line of defence is a big factor in that. He can put his hand up & apologise all he wants but it is happening every other week. Next week’s GK selection will tell us a lot. Funny smell at Firhill these days & not the canal.

Spot on. Nothing there to disagree with. Numbers 1 & 2 are sort of the same thing & nothing has changed since the start of the season where it looked like the defence didn’t have a lot of confidence in Mitchell when he was conceding crazy goals even when we were winning games. So here’s the thing for me… Mitchell, ex Stranraer & season with Clyde is near enough his sum total of experience in the SPFL got the gig obviously being an ArkSports client. What’s going on behind the scenes that McCall continually picking him? Something doesn’t sit right there especially when Sneddon was arguably our best player last season:.

It’s been a while… So first up let me say when it was first mooted I was non plussed about the idea of fan ownership. However recent events with Ms Low & her band of merry men made me think twice & have latterly joined the TJF when PTFC Trust found their lost password for their social media accounts. It seems Ms Low is up to her neck in it. The 2 useful idiots from PTFC Trust along with their ArkSport ‘friend’ are the only ones the 3BC & PTFC board (hello again Ms Low) will do business with. A few weeks back the PTFC Trust useful idiots had family & friends out saying exactly that & were concerned that fan ownership would fall through if they didn’t step in. However the addendum to that was that if it was going to cause a split in the fan base & be more hassle than what it’s worth then they would walk away from it all. If yesterday’s rumours are to be confirmed- & I have it on good authority it will be- it seems our useful idiots along with yesterday’s sponsors (Ark Sports) are soon to be majority shareholders in a football club they have little or no say in running. Why? They won’t answer emails. They won’t confirm who is funding them. They can’t get their story straight about who approached who with what & when but turns out they might have changed their mind about having a say in the boardroom. Having exhausted my efforts trying to find out what say they will have it seems that their main say will be whether Ms Low & her merry men will bourbon or custard cream biscuits whilst shafting the fans (again). McParland Park a distant memory eh? That said now that the PTFC BoD or is that the 3BC own all of the stadium then the club’s future at Firhill is secure for the long term…. Rough not a Tbistle man. Ex player perhaps but that’s as far as his loyalties run. GB an employee. Then we have Duncan who recently flogged the Glasgow Rocks- possibly to spend more time in Cyprus with Neil when he’s not wining & dining in his box at Parkhead. & then there’s Ms Low… What’s in it for her? Why not relinquish control? Enjoy the views of the Queensferry crossing. Something stinks but the useful idiots are not for backing down. They’ve doubled down. Buckle up. If you haven’t joined TJF & want proper fan ownership then I would implore you to.

I'll keep this short & sweet.... Haven't been on here for a good while, long before our recent brilliant run. The few folk that I've been talking with off the main forum know/knew that- as such apologies BowenBoys re your messages with Dumbaya prediction league. Anyway, on way down from Aberdeen last night it was pointed out that a certain poster on here had been commenting his usual drivel without naming names lets just say I was 'Looking for Linda' up there last night but surprisingly with someone who likes to take digs at others he wasn't there... (Or should that be unsurprisingly). I won't break my self imposed absence again. I'd just like to say thank you to admin & hope their forum can continue in some way or form for proper jags fans to have sensible & reasoned discussion (or argument even). Delighted to have been proved wrong over past couple of months & long may it continue. I'll see many of you on here that know me at Parkhead at the weekend & I'll continue 'Looking for Linda'. Happy Jaggy New Year.

I'm sure someone (who's got too much time on their hands) will m'lady. That's why I put the offer out there.

Que?

I honestly think thiese questions have been answered by me alone on numerous occasions. To be truthful I can't really be @rsed looking for them again but if someone wants to troll my posts & bring them up then be my guest!

& always the same folk pinhead. One above for a start.

He's here. It's the better fan than all of you....

Archie has got it under control- that is until when again? Oh yeah, according to you it's until he gets us relegated.

One swallow & all that. You know what... I am delighted we got the win today. Was a bit harem scarem first half with woodwork/keepers it could've been different game for either side. We prevailed though & hopefully it will be the start of something. St Johnstone away & the second quarter will tell us more. It'll be a better international break than it could've been tho.

So the new manager came in bottom of the league (sounds familiar) discovered that week in week out with the same results & performances over the first 2/3 months weren't good enough to keep them up. (sound familiar except no manager change). He brings in players in bargain basement that are still without clubs in late Sept/Oct to try freshen it up but soon discovers there is a reason they were without clubs. (sound familiar at all with us? Although jury out on whether our 3 signings after the window by our manager who hasn't been sacked will be good enough). Come January, Uncle Roy gives him a few quid to bring in players short term to try save their skin (our BoD have to an extent done that previously with players that our manager who hasn't been sacked has been able to bring in as the players he brought in first time weren't good enough.) We don't have an Uncle Roy but Alan Archibald > Jim McIntyre/Sturat McCall/Mark McGhee etc so he won't be needed anyway.

I've never said that he's not sourced decent players. I seem to remember a thread last year discussing his transfer dealings & whether they were hit or miss. Again, that is all open to interpretation & folks opinions. Even the overspend in transfer budget is alleged as such until the club tell us officially or it is seen in accounts. What we can deal is with facts in terms of players we've released months after signing them. Your argurment of standard of top flight. Again only an opinion but most people agree, that we've been in the poorest top flight division for many years. No Rangers, no Hibs, no Hearts who all would be considered mainstays of the league. Why was that? Financial mismanagement for 2 of them but for Hibs it could be argued that it was down to managerial appointments & standard of players brought in. Look at them now. No guarantee of coming back up this season either. Now that could be used as an argurment to keep Archibald but then if you're talking about dismantling what's left of the previous 2 managers teams & a youth policy going along with the manager taking us down with poor results then it's a big chance. Collins, Britton/Whyte & Campbell are no arguement to keep him anymore than an arguement not to. Do I trust the BoD to make the correct appointment if they do decide to get rid? Probably not but then as it stands just now I think the manager has run out of ideas. Btw, I don't think they will sack him. The DU game? A one off. It was like a cup game. You could argue the manager should be treating Celtic games like this instead of playing a back 10. Having to get it right in Jan? Well at risk of contradicting myself here, in first season Taylor had an immediate impact but Mair was biggest signing for me there. That was probably equivalent of pound stretchers after getting it wrong with 99p store Baird, Piccolo, Mukendi. Same could be said last season in Jan but irony was (& here comes my contradiction) it wasn't until he turned back to players that were already there that performances picked up- Doolan, Balatoni, Craigen. This year however it doesn't look as though we can wait til Jan as the 50p store signings not doing it & not sure what will be left in 99p store that we haven't looked at & rejected before. The Thistle job is indeed tricky but then name me a football team whose job isn't?

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That's obviously not his fault if the BoD give him more cash but I was using that as an example that he has been backed by BoD.

I think he can recall him but he'd be unable to play until Jan. (I think).

Not disagreeing but the £x budget set (& this was told to me by someone who os a club sponsor) that we've overspent our transfer budget again last season & coupled with poor crowds/cup run/league finishing prize money... It's what was discussed at the start of the season by the manager stating looking at bringing in quality over quantity. Maybe with the budget he's been given this is the best. I don't know. I just know that if things continue as is we are going we're going to see a further decrease in a budget. The previous incumbent(s) used their contacts to build a team on peanuts which ultimately have got us in the place we find ourselves today -SPL. If we go down, I can't see Archibald being able to do that (again my opinion). I don't see the BoD sacking him so I'm sure we'll be having this debate again. As I said before, I'd love Archibald to prove me wrong as ultimately it will mean staying in SPL but but unfortunately we've had too many of these dips & they're getting longer each time. Cheers

As I said before PT, I'm not a fan of our BoD. They're in it for the property IMO but to say he should be given more. They paid up contracts of Baird, Kerr, Forbes & Murray first season back in SPL & gave the manager cash to get Moncur, Taylor & Erskine in on loan along with Bauben & Mair. No idea of the figures involved but there would've been a few quid spent. Last season the BoD backed him with Stevenson, Seaborne, Carroll & Ecclestone. Which to be fair looked like 4 good purchases on paper. Carroll went down the road Jan with a few quid in his pocket having only played 9 or 10 games & Ecclestone- who is imagine wasn't the lowest paid player at the club- was released, again with a few quid in his pocket. They supported him by bringing in Taylor again, wages wouldn't be cheap I'd guess, & Frans. In return we've had no cup run to speak of to bolster finances & missed out on prize money due to poor results in last game/s. Other than Kilmatnock, I reckon the Dundee game was the first game this season we've created more than a couple of chances in a game. Wasn't at Dingwall so can't comment & Motherwell on Saturday felt we didn't really create many clear cut chances. If Amoo had been injured, having completed a full pre season, surely it shouldn't take him too long to get back up to speed- so to speak!! I agree with why you say about the attacking 4 but we only seem to switch our 2 wide players & wouldn't say Stevenson a centre forward or a wide player like Higgy or Lawless, even Amoo. That's not to say he can't play wide but I go back to the point that whether he's seen as behind striker player or wider, he's not been given a run in the one position. I think a fully fit Stevenson behind the striker will chip in with 8-10 goals a season. As stands in team we've been playing just now, Bannigan or Welsh won't get you that amount of goals & it's not Osman's game. Which in turn leads to point that the buck stops at the manager. He sets up the team. As much as we all like to think we're master tacticians he's the one that selects the players in the team to get the result on a Saturday. He's the one that chooses the formation, works on defensive drills & set pieces. Does anyone on here think a midfield 3 of Osman, Welsh & Bannigan works? I'd hazard a guess & say not many, if any. Like I said we might like to think we're master tacticians but we're football fans & call it as we see it. Maybe the manager is at the stubborn stage. We all remember that with previous incumbents- good & bad. I've been on here arguing that the manager out his depth for past year or so. Sure he kept us up but then so did McCall & McGhee with Motherwell but some folk on here seem to laugh at them being suggested as a potential replacement. As for opinions, is mi e any more or less valid than an armchair fan or nomad? That's a contentious issue. What I would say though is forget the forum, surely the biggest indication of folks opinions at this current moment is the crowds? Season Ticket numbers dwindling is a massive concern. Why? Price certainly a factor I'm sure but do folk feel they're getting value for money? Are we playing the free flowing attacking footy of s couple seasons ago? Are we playing a quick passing game? On both the answer is no. I think we're playing a poor imitation of it where we pass the ball continually in front of a team then lump it. My opinion but then if I turn up every other week thinking that, what do lapsed fans/ST holders think? Have the club asked? I think just now there is is general malaise running through club from top to bottom. But then, that's just my opinion that some folk (not yourself PT) think isn't as relevant as theirs.

It's the budget that counts. That's why Hamilton finished bottom last season & were relegated. That's tight isn't it?

I'll put my hands up as I'm not really aware of development squad players as such so you're in a far better position than me to comment. I just think with money so tight then these guys should be given opportunity to see if they're good enough to make step up. The 3 at the back option I get, but at the start of season we had 4 CHs, down to 3 now Hendry left but with Whiteside coming in...? However if we were to play 3 at the back you'd argue that Lindsay, Frans, Seabourne as first 3 with perhaps Osbourne/Whiteside as cover. Hypothetical I know but then it's probably as hypothetical as the manager changing tactics to play 3 at the back.

I don't think Miller a bad player. I think ultimately he may be this year's whoever because of the players we have who can also cover right back & because he's not a player who fits the system the manager uses & wants from his full backs!! I reckon we'll only see Miller at right back if Dumbaya injured or suspended. The attacking side I take your point but then does that not contradict those who said the BoD haven't supported the manager? The Amoo getting fitter statement is worrying. He should be up to speed by now having been involved in all of pre season. As for improving... Jury out for me on that one. As for creating chances, like I said, last couple of games (well ones I've been to namely Dundee & Motherwell as wasn't at Dingwall) we've had Doolan doing well in wide area & getting a cross in to.... no one. We're putting in crosses from our centre forward who we want to be on the end of the crosses. I've asked before, Stevenson. When we signed him, what position was it for? Wide attacking midfield, in behind striker or as a centre forward? He's one who doesn't seem to have had a run in one settled position. I think we have s group of players capable of performing far better than we are. Why are they not? Well for me buck stops at the manager.

Said it before, no such thing as loyalty now. Someone on here got it spot on when they said the only loyal folk on football are the folk (mugs) who pay their money each week. If Archibald was doing well & another club came calling with more money would he be loyal to PTFC? No. (Like McNamara before him you couldn't blame him as hit to look after yourself). Loyalty is not an argurment to keep him. Results in a business is what he should be judged on. Ultimately in football the thing a manager should ultimately be judged on is if he is getting results on the pitch.

If we had more money then I'd agree with you. Thing is, we don't. We've got a development squad, surely rather than have 2 out & out right backs when money is tight & our biggest problem seems to be scoring goals, we should be looking at other options there? Keep saying it, quality vs quantity. Unless Dumbays is inj or suspended I can't see Miller featuring. This year's Eccleston, Baird, Kerr, Forbes...?