laukat

I'm not sure where that formation came from yesterday. It seemed the least likely to suit the players we have and its not something we've played in any pre-season games. Since we signed Mayo I though we would go for a flat back 4 with Foster-Mayo-Bell-Holt Sneddon should have done better with the QoS first goal. I would try Stone because Sneddon just doesn't seem to inspire confidence in the defence. I don't know if his communication is poor or because he made a mistake early on but it seems to be a recurring theme. There was clearly a mix up between Bell and Sneddon second half which QoS nearly should have taken advantage of. On the first goal McKenna should also do better. Gibson turned him outside and inside and McKenna adopted the bodyshape of a centrehalf rather than force him wide in a way that a more natural rightback would do. In fairness to McKenna he got the assist for our 2 goals so he did contribute. The second goal was frustrating. Mainly because you could see it coming. Howevert the exact circumstances were poor. I think its Graham who doesn't get close enough to the QoS player heading the ball it was really conceded because we went for a really strange way of covering the posts. Foster starts covering the near post and then as the corner arrives moves the to far post whilst Docherty drops to get closer to the near post. The end result was Foster doesn't get in position to stop the ball at the far post and if the header had gone near post Docherty wasn't getting to it either. Its even stranger when you see that immediately preceeding the goal there was a corner from the opposite side and we did the same things but with Foster moving from near to far but then coming out to challenge for the ball. I think QoS spotted our inique way of defending the posts and exploited it. The fact we did the same system twice suggest it was something the players were coached to do but its an extremly difficult system to execute and places a lot of emphasis on Fosters ability to read the corner.

I think Sevco want rid of Hastie whereas Mayo may be someone they think still has a future. They dropped Hastie into their colts team rather than giving him any time in the friendlies and he'll be on a decent wage which all suggest they want to find a way out. Hastie is 22 years old so Sevco and has 2 years left on his contract. I think that means he can leave at 24 without Sevco having any entitlement to a fee. Conversely Sevco won't get a fee for a player sitting in their colts. That will probably mean they want to put him on loan and hope he attracts some bidders but we and other clubs wanting to take him on loan wouldn't pick up enough of his wages to release sevco from the financial burden. I wonder if Sevco might offer Hastie a payoff and we sign him permanent with Sevco getting a % of any future transfer fee? Agree with @lady-isobel-barnett that he looks well worth a punt. His early form at Motherwell looked really positive and he fits the general mould of McCall midfield/ attack signings i.e. younger players looking for a second chance

From the Sun "JAGS EYE GERS DUO Partick Thistle are 'close' to a deal for Rangers youngster Lewis Mayo and the Jags are also interested in Jake Hastie, it's being reported. Mayo has previously spent time on loan at Firhill, making a short-term move in January 2020. The defender spent last season on loan at Dunfermline. Winger Hastie is also said to be on Thistle's radar. Hastie earned a move to Rangers after bursting onto the scene at Motherwell but he never forced his way into Steven Gerrard's first-team plans."

I quite like the idea of competition for the number 1 jersey. Prior to last season we had a clear first choice in Fox, Bell and Cerny. We've probably not had competition in that position since 14/15 when Gallacher and Fox were in the squad. (There was a brief spell when Hazard and Penrice battled for the jersey but its difficult for a young keeper to develop when they a playing behind a poor team that had a constant change in formation between back 3 and back 4.) Fox and Bell looked too comfortable and there were plenty of games were they should have been dropped but we didn't really have a ready alternative. Cerny was a great keeper but when he was injured the drop in standard to Scully was really noticeable and unsettled the defence Hopefully between Penrice and Stone we have 2 decent keepers and the competition forces both to higher levels. McCall is pretty consitent with picking a back 4 and with experience like Foster and Bell it should be a good environment for a young keeper to develop. However I do think this is a huge season for Sneddon. If he ends up playing second fiddle to a 19 year old then it doesn't auger well for his future. To my mind Sneddon needs to improve his kicking especially from open play and also start to exert more authority in his 6 yard box on corners.

Always difficult to judge in pre-season friendlies but I thought we played pretty well. First half we probably shaded but second half was more of a struggle when sevco put out all their first teamers. McKenna in midfield worked as did the pairing of O'Ware and Bell. In general the back 4 looked solid throughout. Sneddon needs to work on how he deals with passbacks. Some very dodgy clearances particularly in the first half. Ocholi looks like he might be a decent option from the bench. He has a decent turn of pace and wasn't shy about trying to run at Aribo. We still look a few players short. Need a goalkeeper and winger minimum. However depending on budget and injuries a striker, leftsided centre back and midfielder may also be needed. Turner, Brownlie and Rudden would clearly make a difference and give us a very decent starting 11.

Abosolutely correct. 3 at the back and 2 up front is not good enough for this level. We also need to more flexible in our formation. After 45 minutes we should have moved from a 3-5-3 to a 4-5-1 and man marked modric in midfield. However the players we have don't allow for that. O'Donnell as a right back as opposed to a right wing back would be high risk, with gilmour injured we only really had 1 defensive minded midfilder in McGregor and up front both strikers look like they need a partner. We should be looking to develop a team that plays either 4-2-3-1 or 4-5-1 to utilise Gilmour and McGregor in midfield and move to a possession based game. That will require a decision to be made on Tierney's position. Either he is the left sided centre back or he needs to go to right back.

Dobbie signs for AFC Fylde

I think Hendry is one we will need to perservere with. He has all the attributes of a modern centre half - pace, height and decent on the ball, at 26 he's still a year or two from his prime and he is one of the few right footed centre halfs we have. He should improve with experience and hopefully that will reduce rushes of blood to the head as per the Czech game. The alternatives are either playing McTominay there which weakens the midfield or playing Gallagher or Hanley or playing a left footer on the right side. Gallagher and Hanley have their attributes but neither is quick enough to play right side of a back 3, both are more suited to the centre of the 3. I don't see us going to a back 4 on Friday unless we go behind. Even then we just don't have a righ sided fullback good enough to play in a 4. We would be better switching Tierney to right back if we had to do that. I think we may regret taking Patterson rather than Palmer. Palmer was at least reliable and expierenced in a back 4.

We have 2 world class players in Robertson and Tierney. Losing one of them was always going to effect us and for me we just looked a lot slower and predictable in our play. That said my expectations were pretty low as we are trying to play international football with players who are nowhere near international standard. Loved Stephen O'Donnell as a Thistle player and he gives his all for his country but he's at Motherwell for a reason. I would probably still play him at right wing back against England as the other options of a raw Nathan Patterson or a defensively suspect James Forrest are not great. Beyond O'Donnell our limited choices at Goalkeeper got exposed as well as up front where we still lack a clinical finisher. Dykes does what he's meant to do by battering defenders and winning headers but he's not a finisher. Adams looked a lot better as he brough pace and movement but the chances never fell to him. The midfield 3 didn't do a lot wrong but Armstrong, McGinn and McTominay are very similar players. Neither of them want to play short passes in and out of the lines and we missed that variation. McGregor and Christie still look like they have played too much football and lost their edge. For me the key moment was actually the Czech keepers save from Robertson. Robertson was our leader and he's one one one form the keeper less than 18 yards out. If he scores we are 1-0 up and can sit back. A few minutes later we are 0-1 down and its a long way back from there. We did continue to create chances and apart from Robertson, Hendry, Armstrong and Dykes should really have scored with their opportunities as well as the Czech keeper making a really good save from a possible own goal. Getting to the tournament was our major achievement and even a scudding from England and Croatia won't take away from the elation felt after that game in Belgrade. Clarke has done a decent job of organising the team and finding a formation that covers off our weaknesses but still allows us to create chances so all the talk of he's hopeless and should be binned is for me embarassing. It was only 2 weeks ago that the Dutch were lucky to draw with us. However I hope he looks at how we add pace and variation for the England game. If Tierney is unfit we will have to go with the same back 5 but I'm hoping we go with the following Gordon O'Donnell-Hendry-Cooper-Tierney-Robertson McGinn-Gilmour-McTominay Fraser-Adams Gilmour brings variation, freshness and pace to the midfieled. From watching England I'm pretty sure Mings and Stones will make mistakes particularly against smaller more mobile players. Thats something Fraser could exploit.

Thats a really strange signing by QOS. Leaving aside his Thistle history they are signing a player that can't get a game for Aidrie in League 1 and who has never done it at championship level. QOS also signed Nditi from Forfar who didn't look anything special. QOS, Morton and Ayr all look like they are signing players who are not championship standard and going to rely heavily on loan players adding enough quality to stay up. To me it looks like there are some clubs struggling for money due to the pandemic and making some unsual/cheap managerial appointments and signings.

Happy to get Bell and bar an experinced keeper we pretty much have our starting 11. I think it will be something like the following New Keeper Foster-Brownlie-Bell-Holt Turner-Docherty-Bannigan Rudden-Graham-Tiffoney Looks a decent team on paper hopefully performs well on the pitch.

Agree it was always unlikely we would get Mulgrew. Always thought his wage demand would be beyond us. However I would have liked to have Steve Bell signed up. Anyone know why that hasn't happened yet?

Most of the facts were reported by newpapers such as this https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/local-sport/lowland-league-clubs-unanimously-reject-24210716 and this https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52600965 Seesm to confirm that there was in effect a bribe made and pressur was applied to secure an outcome for Brechin. The only things up for dispute are was it Brechin who offered to buy the tickets or Petrie? and did Maxwell apply the pressure? It wouldn't be the first time that the media in this country chose to ignore the SFA and SPFL doing things it shouldn't. I don't expect anyone to take Maxwell or Petrie to task however if they were trying to assist Brechin they should be asked why? Did Brechin get extra help because the had somone on the SPFL board until recently?

Agree that is a very good top. Is it just me or have Thistle gone from getting everything wrong to currently getting everything right? Win the league, good signings, good top. I don't know how to cope with good news, its been so long and I had become accustomed to misery. Is there a support group for Thistle fans experiencing strange new feelings? I believe I've heard its called "Hope"?

In April and in March there were times when we were playing 3 games a week at Firhill and the pitch arguably never looked better. Hopefully that means it can cope with a game or 2 per week.