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The problem the SFA has is that I'm not sure what the right thing in this case is anymore. After all that has happened, it would just create even more chaos were Sevco's application for SFA membership rejected. The ideal scenario would be that Sevco simply accept the transfer ban, in my opinion.

When it comes to PR this is not the case though. We have someone who is employed solely as a PR Officer. It is their job to manage the communication from the club to the fans/the wider world. If that was my job, and I had just overseen the absolute PR disaster that has been the past few weeks, then I'd be embarrassed.

Another awful statement by the club. Aside from the fact that it doesn't actually tell us how we have voted, it is littered with grammatical and punctuation errors. How hard can it be to write using the correct English? If that is the work of our "PR Officer" then some questions really need to be asked. Shocking communications all round.

I got told the other day that Billy Allan, in his pre-board days, used to be a Rangers fan. He's perfectly entitled to have supported another team prior to becoming involved with us, but it does make me wonder if it will affect the way we decide to vote. If I've been given dud information then I'm happy to be corrected, of course.

Is this an attempt at a wind up? Please say it is.

I can't believe a guy in his position, and with his many years of experience, has come out with remarks as crass, hypocritical, dangerous and downright untrue as that. Absolutely astonishing. I dislike calling for people to resign, but after those remarks alone his position is untenable.

So there would be a spare team each week? No thanks.

You are probably right. But if these communication skills aren't used effectively, i.e. to pacify the support's anger and alarm, then they are a failure. I have no idea who is pulling the strings at Thistle, whether its Beattie or Allan, or whether they are being badly advised by others (perhaps some people from Jordanhill...), but whoever it is needs to seriously get a grip of this situation before it escalates even further. We need a clear statement of intent and principle, not a sand-dancing, buck-passing embarrassment of a statement like today's.

Beattie has been on the board for years! Folk on here always speaks as though he is the new kid on the block and is completely unassociated with previous directors, but he has been on the board,and presumably yielded influence and power, for a long time now.

Who writes the club's statements? Is it the PR woman (I've forgotten her name)? Is it Maxi? Beattie? It's a genuine question, as whoever it is needs some serious help. We have now had four statements that have been embarrassing in their ambiguity. Every statement released seems to make the situation worse. Surely there is someone at the club with at least a modicum of communication skills? Aside from the poorly written nature of the statement, this is just yet another attempt to pass the buck. Quite how the board cannot see the anger that this issue is generating within the support I do not know. It is genuinely baffling that they can't see the damage that this is doing to the support's faith in the leadership of the club.

Don't know if this is the best thread to post this on, what with the multitude of similar threads on the topic, but I just noticed Ian Maxwell on the BBC Scotland news being filmed outside Hampden on his way into the SFL meeting today. Without disrespecting Maxi, who does an excellent job, it strikes me as extremely odd that we are sending him instead of someone from the board. He deals with hospitality, media etc, not making the massive decisions that will affect the future of Thistle and Scottish football for years to come. I appreciate that it is holiday season but I seriously doubt that one of our directors couldn't have been available to represent us today.

This sounds absolutely fantastic. Can't wait!

A wee thing on the website to say what? The QOS thing was cleared up by the club and wasn't their fault. They can't control what fans of other clubs post on forums, and they can't put out a club statement every time someone posts an incorrect rumour on another club's forum.

Beattie's comments are very worrying. Sporting integrity is worth more than anything, and I'll be very unhappy if we vote for a measure that simply allows Rangers to drop into the First for a year. Besides the sporting integrity argument (which is paramount) there is also the harm it does to teams like ourselves with title aspirations.

I'd be more than happy to have Simon Storey as defensive back-up. When played at sweeper he was excellent for us. Even if it was just a case of offering him training facilities and having a look at him, it could be a worthwhile and potentially very cheap (considering his physio work) defensive option.

There's a piece in today's Herald about an investment company Mr Chopra is involved in going bust, with the individuals concerned facing losses of up to £3 million.

Really? The guy was a bombscare when he was with us. No chance was he better than Tuffey, Arthur or Fox.

Oh stop moaning. They are pre-season friendlies, nobody cares about them and they are essentially just fitness exercises. It isn't about 'learning', it's about getting the fitness levels up and giving the players a run-out. Besides, QOS will have an entirely new team next season; it won't be the same team we played this year. I'm sure the club will try their best to give us some sort of decent away day, but if they don't then I'm sure I can survive.

Just a wee joke pal!

Buchanan? No thanks. Please don't make him the latest player you become obsessed with, your fans prefer it when it's someone a bit more left-field.

There's no chance Erskine will be out the first 11. You also have six subs.

He might have had a decent second half to the last season, but I'm willing to bet he won't repeat his form next year. He is an absolute donkey and has all the mobility of a tortoise on ketamine.

I don't really understand your point? If it is because Jackie has signed a couple of players who haven't lived up to expectations (although I'm more than happy to have Elliott under contract for next year), then I could equally present you with players like Sinclair who exceeded expectations. We can only wait and see what Muirhead and Lawless are like, but they are exactly the kind of players I'd like us to be signing and I'm looking forward to seeing them in action, rather than worrying about players who we could potentially miss out on.

And who is to say that Lawless and Muirhead won't be top-class players? If we had not signed them, despite looking at them, and they had signed for other 1st Division clubs people would no doubt me moaning that we passed on them. I imagine Jackie knows what he is doing more than you do, to be honest.

My comments were made in jest pal. There's more chance of Gerry Collins being appointed Chelsea manager than there is of us signing Rino Gattuso. The very thought of it is ridiculous.