MMCF

Thought 1 There's something familiar about this. Thought 2 Can't quite place it. Thought 3 It's coming back to me.... Thought 4 Endless Sunday nights in search of inspiration Thought 5 Ah the good ol' days of ptfc.net And finally Feel the need to lie down in a dark place now

Bears vs Packers 9.15 NFL game. This will be a goodie

Jim McGilvray referee (allegedly) Thistle vs Rangers circa 1996.

So young Mr Hyde signs for obscure Dundee junior outfit in order to play as a trialist for Dud-dee. He scores small shed load of goals in his three allowed games as trialist and then when he cannot play for them any more he gets signed by Dud -fermline! You wonder about why we have transfer windows etc and how a team who cannot sign players because of their financial shennanigans loses out to a team who actually owe more than they do? I am now going to a dark place for a while until the world actually becomes sensible again. I may be some time.

Swap you for a signed ball. Go on. You know you want it . . .

Crikey. I didn't realise that the mighty Maritimo were back up. They play on Madeira and anyone who complains about trips to Stranraer or Dingwall ought to try going to every Maritimo game in a Season

I really do believe that I may need a dictionary to translate this. Any suggestions as to which page I might start on?

I'm inclined to agree with Will. And to those honourable gentlemen here's a little thought: Napoleon once said, when asked to explain the lack of great statesmen in the world, that "to get power you need to display absolute pettiness; to exercise power, you need to show true greatness." And therein lies the problem at Firhill as in so many walks of life. Too much pettiness. Not enough greatness

And perhaps that is the key Will. They are playing as a team. There was a Dinger behind me today who wanted to lay into Paddy Boyle, who has been part of a defensive unit which has not conceded a goal in 180 minutes. A bit silly if you ask me. And if you looked carefully at the way the midfield grafted today. How many times did they win ball falling from a defensive header? It is not about single players but about a young team who are being built into a very formidable unit. Well done to each and every one, including those who came on as subs and who merely (today) warmed the bench.

I have it on the highest authority (My own) that you are perfectly correct. You may also take this to the bank. Their Appeal will fail!

Tinkering at the edges while the thing goes down the tubes. You need to think different. So lets look to the good old US of A. Six regionalised divisions with lots interdivisional play and more teams getting a shot to win a divisonal title. Then play-offs (Divisional winners and runners up) to decide who wins the overall championship. Oh a just to pander to the massive blue and green egos they can play in different divisions so that each of them can (perhaps) win something each year. And yes someteams will bite the dust but in your wildest dreams are team like Elgin and Berwick really all that viable. This is just an example Saltire Division West Rangers St Mirren Thistle Morton Airdrie Thistle Division West : Celtic Motherwell Kilmarnock Ayr Queen of the South Saltire Division East : Hibs Hearts Falkirk Livingston Thistle Division East : Dundee Utd Dundee (we can dream) Dunfermline RaithRovers St Johnstone Saltire Division North : Inverness Ross Co. Aberdeen ..... Oh go have some fun. Make up your own leagues Or just tell me its crap and go back to the same old stuff which will lead to ......O-B-L-V...

The standard way is to put the baby up to your shoulder and pat (gently9 until the required..... Alternativley Place on her tummy over your knee and rub gently. Great name that by the way. We've had a Lucie for fourteen years and wouldn't change a thing (you learn how to lie like a trouper quite quickly when you,ve got weans and when you're outnumbered two one in the gender stakes!)

Spot the oxy-moron

I too was aware of the return of one of the Thistle Nations great unsung heroes. Perhaps those running this site will appreciate what she did over an extended period of time. And let us not forget Mr Cowan's role in effectively ending the life of ptfc.net. It's a telling point in this age of uncertainty and austerity that fans feel that the cost of football at Firhill, and other places, is too high. Should we possibly consider a well publicised reduction of gate prices to encourage people to come back (cue howels of objection from Season Ticket holders - but not me) and even an abandonment of the Kids go free policy (to be replaced by a nominal cost, for some income is better than no income at all. Lets face it some of our rivals are making our kids and their folks pay through the nose. It really is a case of cutting your clothe etc

Tend to agree on that one. Pause. How about "By the way we (collectively) don't fear anyone, anytime, anywhere" Fly the Flag

If you consider the time scale here, that the meeting with the Board was first mooted on the 30th August with the hope that it would happen before the AGM of 9th September. It didn't take place until 17th September, no fault of the Trust, and still we may have to wait another week to ten days until (25th - 28th September) David is able to furnish his report. And the proposed Supporters meeting will take place within the next three weeks, it is hoped, which takes us into the second week in October. By which time we will have played Dunfermline at home, Ross County away, twice (league and Alba Cup) and be facing a visit from Falkirk. There's a scenario which says that the Joe Thistle football fan may not be that patient if the results in these fixtures go against us. If we are out of the Alba cup and still on three points at that stage how many will bother to turn up for a meeting, especially when many more fans are not bothering to show up for a game? Okay, I'm not sometimes the most optomistic of people (can't think where I picked up that habit) but it is a worrying and possible scenario which makes some of us keen to see matters pressed on with

Ah but the advantages of being paranoid, allegedly, are that you can have multiple opinions and still be right And on that theme condiser this if you will "However, following a series of telephone calls after the meeting had finished......" This from the statement by David Stewart on the Jags Trust web site. I just wonder who phoned who first? Or put another way who blinked?

Might I draw yoour attention to another thread (If you are a concerned ....) which I think highlights what a patient person I can be, especially when having to deal with PTFC. Having said that, given that we are bottom of the league, leaking (money) like the Titanic just after it's encounter with the iceberg and have the spectre of the PROPOCO hovering I would say that time is of the essence.

Excuse me if I am not over-whelmed. The last time that I saw David Beattie, if memory serves me correctly, he was playing straight man for Mr Prentice and his Leap of Faith. Jim Alexander is an ASSOCIATE director of the club (with apologies to the hard working J. J.) who seems gets all the jobs that no-one else wants to do and the amazing invisible man that is Billy Allan remains, well, invisible. No Cowan. No Hughes. No Prentice. Both incredible and at the same time believable Could we be looking at a situation where the representatives of the Board say one thing at a meeting only for those who have (or believe they have)the real power at Firhill to step in and veto what has been agreed. It wont be the first time that we've been mugged by the Gang of Three. PS It has been brought to my attention that Jim Alexander is in fact now a FULL Director of the Club. My congratulations tp Jim, with apologies for inadvertantly under-rating him. Crikey! Is nobody allowed to know even the good news around here

First let me say that I am a little disappointed that my last question, about the make of the PTFC representatives) was neatly stepped around. Were any of the main players Cowan, Hughes or Prentice present? could you please just answer the question? And now we have the "confidential" word appearing, this time being apparently used by our own representatives. Seems like someone is learning to play the sorts of games that the PTFC Board play.

Now that's a picture that we would love to see (but won't)

I wonder if, as a taster, you could identify which of the Big Beasts PTFC (Cowan Hughes Prentice etc)sent along to represent them? 'Twould give us an idea of how serious they were taking matters.

You may need some time to read this. It is a story that has taken some time to resolve. Now that it has reached a form of closure I think that it is important that you know, if you we not already aware of what you are dealing with an a supporter of Partick Thistle. I am not going to hide behind handles here so I will tell you straight off the bat that my name in Paul Dorrian. I am a Season Ticket holder and have been since 1995. I sit in Seat 96 in Row S. I am a Silver Level member of the Centary Fund, joining through the pervious Jags Trust fund. I attended the meeting which led to the amalgamation of the two funds and voted for the motion. I have a Soccer Saver account with the Dunfermline Building Society. Some of you may recall when I did a little selfish writing for Lianne's .net site and that I also contributed a number of Match Reports for the same. In short I am a Joe Jags fan who does what he can and supports the Board where I believe that it is in the best interests of the club. I also regularly buy a 50/50 half time draw ticket from the same lady on the concourse, almost every game. And that's really where this story begins. On the 15th April 2010 i attended the Ayr Utd game. It was unusual in that my regular partner in things Red and Yellow was stuck in Egypt courtsey of an Icelandic volcano. And my brother-in-law had suffered a serious fall in London two days earlier and it was a last minute thing in arriving at the game. But I still managed to buy my two 50/50 half time draw tickets. What was even more unusual was that on that day I actually won, first prize. I mentioned the amazing result to Derek and Chic who sit to my right in Row S. I went to the main door at full time and was told to phone Firhill on the Monday to register my claim. I went of to our usual corner of the 'Shoe and bought our small Jags Unit gathered there a little gold stuff from Orkney. I went home and on the Monday I phoned Firhill and gave my details over the phone as requested. And then I waited. I took my eye off the ball during the months of May and June. My brother in law did not recover from his injuries and passed away in May. We had a quite horrible holiday and it was not until I cam home to my new Season Ticket that it dawned on me that I had heard no word about the Half Time draw win. On 25th July I wrote to Partick Thistle to enquire what had happened to the prize. There was no response. On the 8th of August I sent the club an email again asking about the result of the half time draw. On the 19th August I sent a email to the Chair of the Jags Trust outlining the situation. He replied immediately but he was hampered by the fact that he was in fact out of the country at that time. But at least someone had replied. On the 25th Ausust I received an email from Mr Prentice at the club asking if I had any reply to the enquiry about the half time draw that "you may have won". I responded that I had not heard anything. More silence. On 13th September I wrote again to the Chair of the Jags Trust informing him that if he could make no progress on my account than I would ask for the matter to be officially investigated. Essentially I would contact the police and ask them to look into a potential fraud at the football club. At around the same time I had been contacted by a significant member of our Thistle community on another matter. He was horrified by the lack of response from the club resolved to make further enquiries. Between these two the matter has been quckly resolved. Today in a flurry of communications I have been informed that I will receive a cheque in the post by the end of the week. This explanation in essence amounted to three lines from Mr Prentice citing the drawbacks of a skeleton staff and that things sometimes overlooked. My understanding unofficially is that there was some resistance to the pressure from those working on my behalf, that blame was shifted onto junior inexperienced members of staff, that there was some doubt as whether I had contacted Firhill in the first place. In short I was left with the distinct impression that nobody really wanted to stand up and take responsibility for this shambles. Put another way by one more eloquent than I, it's official Partick Thistle (The Board of?) cannot even run a raffle. In conclusion I ask you all to carefully consider whom do you trust to run your club? I am not the first to have been shabbliy treated by those currently charged with the running of the club. I would like to think that I would be the last. But that may be a most optomistic view. Rather I feel that the money, when it arrives, will go into that Soccer Saver account against a day, which I fear is not long off, when it will take more than £180 to ensure that there is still a team in Red and Yellow playing in Glasgow for us to support. Bank your money folks. We, the supporters, are going to need it. Fly the Flag. Save the Jags Paul Dorrian The Monday Morning Centre Forward

I believe that the current response to this is "If you think that you can do a better job......" Seriously, I have had an uninspiring and recent first hand experience of how difficult it is to engage with the powers that be at Firhill and the response that I have had from the Jags Trust has been light years ahead of PTFC. So I wish you all the best on Friday. The question that I would like to know is whether the Board are meeting before they meet the Trust's representatives or afterwards?

Let's try again here. Few people doubt that the sptting event took place. There are some doubters who were there and find it curious that despite the fact that they were in the vicinity they saw nothing. But the incident did take place and I have on good authority that Craig Hinchcliffe wanted the matter over, done and moved on with. So then we have Allan Cowan help re-ignite a fire that had flamed up and been doused. Some of us question why he did this in such a way as to damage the reputation of the support. And for the tremerity to ask the question our own characters are brought into question. The very concept of free speech is challenged here. Indeed you sir have the pomposity to question my sanity. Now there are places in the world where folk who ask awkward questions are ridiculed and declared "mad" and in these sad places those unfortunates are shipped off to locations where they dont get heard from much any more. But this is not, happily, one of those places. So make all the pronouncements you like and, as I have said, I will defend to the death your right to pronounce I just hope that you can be reasonable enough to allow others to voice their opinions as well.