Fearchar

The defence practically picks itself, although I'd like to see McMillan starting against Morton: he looked convincing at centre back in Kirkcaldy. It seems to me that, however keen he is, Lawless is desperately in need of a rest: more than most, he has struggled in the Fife games. A rest would freshen him up for the Morton game, since he's always capable of scoring. Bannigan, too, is being expected to cope with a lot, and if Paton is available again I'd be inclined to leave Bannigan on the bench - as a possible substitute for Sinclair or Paton if/when we need a change. Up front, I'd start with Craig, who led the line very well in the closing stages at Starks Park; Doolan and Elliot could come off the bench if we need more mobility later on.

A battling performance in the end, by which time it looked as if ten-man Thistle were more likely to grab a goal. The referee began by being generous with cards, and made a mess of it as a result. However, the passing among the players was very disjointed, and they were too keen to accept the challenge of head tennis: Welsh and Erskine were notable exceptions, since they tried to kill the ball more often. Sinclair was rather lackadaisical, putting the defence under pressure needlessly. A creditable point under difficult circumstances. My man of the match? The twelfth man, without a doubt: well done, the Jags support.

Today's cloggerfest was dire for the most part, with skilled players getting kicked and pushed frequently, usually without any reaction from the officials. Erskine, in particular, must be black and blue by now, and Doolan was simply pushed to the ground - possibly in the box, although it was hard to make out through the wire mesh.

This.

Let's hope all partied involved can agree on mediation instead of legal proceedings: washing your dirty linen in public is never a good idea.

The club has been good at picking up talent from the juniors, and even from the north of England (Christie Elliott), but there's no reason why lower-league players in neighbouring countries wouldn't add some different qualities to our game. The othe source that is often overlooked is amateur football: large parts of Scotland simply don't have the resources (including transport) to support the professional game. As it happens, many former pros end up involved in amateur football after they retire from the professional game, and they and officials are good sources of information on who the talented footballers are. (I should add that these wouldn't be for dropping straight into an SPL side, but for cultivating the next generation.)

To be continued after a double promotion? This less than improbable availability of two places in the SPL may be caused by the parslmonious state of Hearts' coffers. Then we'd have yet more tones of this delirious romance here to look forward to.

Time was when I was always nervous about corners conceded - but no longer. Bannigan has been sent further out while corners are taken, maybe for the reasons mentioned.

This thread is a disgrace! Surely we can have a normal heated debate without mentioning those two letters (you know the ones I mean - 15th and 6th in the alphabet). It lowers the tone insufferably.

The Dumbarton manager spotted our weakness and got his team to probe it constantly: instead of punting high balls into the middle of our defence (a thankless task against Balatoni in particular), they were punted short of there to the Sons' midfielders, dropping behind most of our midfielders. It's to the credit of our defence that a clean sheet was still the result. In fact, the number of goals against scored at Firhill is very impressive - just 9, whereas even the next-best home records for goals against in the league (Morton and Accies) are 5 higher. Archie is right to praise the defence.

He talks a good game - and football is generally run by simpletons. (There are exceptions, of course, such as Mourinho and Rummenigge, but precious few in the UK.)

Here's a wild card for a manager: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21636939

Oh, and Archie's words on the Pars site are worth reading: Archibald had every sympathy for the Dunfermline players:- "Every one of them is credit to themselves and their club. If we asked any of you to go and do your work for 50% of your wages, you'd probably say no. For some reason in the football environment it seems a given that they are going to turn up and play. People don't seem to understand that it is a job like any other. They are out there running the risk of getting injured and I don't think that there will be anything there for them if they do get injured. "They still have bills to play and still have to travel through to training. People think footballers are all millionaires but it is not like that by any means. There are a lot of guys been in that position before and it is a horrible situation. We were lucky with Save the Jags that we always got paid." (http://www.dafc.co.uk/articles/20130302/managers-post-partick_2208031_3095384)

I'm sure that roasting is exactly what happened - it's straight out of the Standard Dim Scottish Football Manager's Manual (or should that be "Locker"?), especially since the Dunfermline players came back out long after ours. It would have undermined what little confidence the Pars players had left. Our players didn't even need to sit tight: they just strolled around keeping the ball moving when in possession. Jim Jefferies' thoughts on the Pars' website: "I thought that there were quite a few of them who just turned up and just filled that jersey." And we get complaints here about negativity!

In the last two games we depended on Chris Erskine bringing a touch of magic; this time, the weather has saved our blushes. Maybe it is better to be lucky than to be good, but there have to be doubts about how we're going about the run-up to the end of the season. Prepare to have comments from your favourite Greenock-based nutters on here yet.

The style of play under Archie has changed, both for the better and for the worse. The players are now much more willing to restrict the opposition when they're in possession: this forces them into losing possession more often, and also keeps the ball in their half. On the other hand, the freescoring, flowing style is not so evident, which results, among other things, in fewer goals being scored. Ideally, it should be possible to have both styles of play, according to whether we're in possession and according to where we're playing. It was surprising to see the team apparently set out to frustrate the division's no-hopers, while we were playing at home. Without Erskine's flair, the last two games would have been lost. (On Tuesday he was brought down in the penalty box.) There is a warning there. What happens if a referee allows Erskine to be kicked off the park? Some unease at the direction the team is currently taking is well justified, regardless of where someone is writing from.

I'd like to see Doolan get the opportunity to show us his stuff. Welsh's return to midfield gave it more dig, and I'd be prepared to sacrifice Forbes to gain his mobility.

The timings would make this awkward: the noises of the crowd have to be synched, or it's very distracting, but the pace and content of the commentary are different between the media: radio commentary has to say more but doesn't need to keep up with the action to the same extent. An alternative suggestion would be simply to follow the Gaelic. After all, it's not as if football commentary is rife with literary expositions.

The Gaelic commentary is usually very good - at a much higher standard than the (supposedly) English-language equivalent. Surely someone has the equipment to record the programme to DVD, and then make copies for fellow fans overseas.

Doolan's goal at the very end of the season 2009/10 against Queen of the South was a memorable one that no-one has mentioned so far. http://ptfc.co.uk/news/2009-2010/may_2010/queen_of_the_south_-_after_match_reaction http://ptfc.co.uk/media/video/match_highlights/2009-2010/0105_queen_of_the_south

Best: Graham Dorrans Worst: Lucas Akins

Much more than Murray, it''s these grubby constrictive little pitches like Cappielow and Station Park that are our problem. We have a team that likes open spaces for playing but is destined to spend time in the footballing equivalent of trench warfare. A free kick close to the centre line in these places offers a goal-scoring opportunity if the ball is lofted into the penalty box. On the bright side, the re-established central defence did well, with Muirhead organising the line, and despite not playing the first-choice right back (O'Donnell) the defence looked pretty sound all round. If Sinclair is to be allowed to take free kicks, then he needs more practice at them between games. Surprisingly, Forbes wasn't too effective from a free kick either, for the same reason - putting the ball over the bar. That's usually due to tensing up on kicking the ball: SID used to do it all the time. The other interesting thought is that Morton couldn't score against us from open play. (Their first goal was from a lay-off following a free kick.) Their penalty was badly taken, though, and I thought (perhaps mistakenly) that Scott Fox might have saved it.

One of the intriguing points about this game is that it pits a largely young, talented team against one of mostly experienced pros: the result, given the position of the two clubs in the division, could inform and/or justify future strategies for gaining promotion to the top division in Scotland. Or it would if Scottish managers were perceptive enough.

If Burkina Faso and Ghana could play well on a sand pitch in the Africa Cup of Nations, then surely the Jags can play well on the mud of Kirkcaldy!

Not ambitious enough for me - "third" force, indeed!