laukat

I think you are right however Tuesday will be big in confirming this. If Falkirk don't take maximum points against Peterhead then they could be on for a collapse not seen since Morton in 03/04. Conversely if Falkirk beat Peterhead then they probably are still in 1st place as the split starts. The fixtures are such that it'll only become clear who from the current top 3 are realistic contenders after 2nd play 3rd on the 24th. Whoever loses that game is struggling.

Today's results are again good for us. Not only did Falkirk lose but with East Fife winning it means Montrose have to win against Cove to make the top 5 and Peterhead need to beat Falkirk to avoid getting pulled into 9th place. The maximum points Falkirk can get to is 46 and like wise for Cove. However its hard to see either of those sides winning all remaining fixtures. Still looks to me like 42 points will win the league and possibly as low as 40 points if you beat those above in the process. To my mind if we are top of the league going into the split it will look very good for us. If we are top on Tuesday it will mean that Falkirk and Cove failed to win and also mean those 2 have to play each other as first game post split. To my mind we want to finish 1st with Cove 2nd and Falkirk 3rd. This would mean in theory that the game against Cove at Firhill on the 29th is the big one. Thet being said if we go into the split 1 or 2 points behind top place I still think we have a great chance We are the form team and have momentum however Cove's form is not far off ours. I think Cove will struggle with the number of games in a short period particularly if they lost Fyvie or Megginson. Whilst we have a squad that can cover for injuries and allow us to freshen things up Cove will rely on their starting 11 being fit and fresh to get wins. Falkirk look in a bad way. A bad result on Tuesday would be make it vey difficult for a young inexperienced management team to turn things around and find the form required in their last 4 games to win the league. It will be interesting to see the approach of the other teams that make the top 5. It could be that 4th and 5th place are 6 points behind top place at the start of the split so may be only playing for a top 4 spot therefore do they rest players agains the top 3 to field a strong team in the 4th v 5th placed game knowing the winning probably gets 4th place? Also if say Falkirk finish 3rd and then their first post split game do they start to rest players and prioritise the playoffs? @lady-isobel-barnett mentioned the size of our park in another thread and if it was an advantage. We will be the only team in the top 5 playing on grass. To my mind that must be advantageous particularly if we play the 2nd place team at home.

You could argue a case for any one of the 5 goals last night. The best footballing goal in my opinion was probably the first goal. You can see Foster start to move as soon as Tiffoney picks up the ball in midfield, Bell's pass is on the button and Fosters first touch and control is top quality. The most significant goal of last night might be Rudden's second. Rudden struck the ball very cleanly without hesistating or looking to take a controlling touch. That was the strike of a confident player who thinks he can score at any opportunity. Getting Rudden to that position of confidence may be hugely significant as we go into the remaining games.

Excellent performance tonight. Tiffoney has made a huge difference to our attack and Bell has brought an air of calm to our back 4. Both look like a good bit of business. That was really the first time we have played a front 3 which I think McCall wanted to do for some time and its starting to gel. The top 5 split will be interesting. Right now it looks like first place will be between us, Falkirk and Cove. Its unlikely the 5th place team pre-split will have enough points to challenge for the title so with nothing to play for will they take many points? Momentum will be a big factor and it will be really interesting to see how Falkirk and Cove respond should we go into the split either in 1st place. Falkirk have Cove on Saturday and then Peterhead away. Peterhead need points to avoid getting pulled into 9th place. Cove have Falkirk and then Montrose. If East Fife get something from their game on Saturday v Peterhead then Montrose need to get something form the Cove game to make the top 5. We have Dumbarton who need points to avoid 9th place so its by no means a given we will get 3 points. However if we can somehow go into the split in 1st it would also mean that the first round of post split fixtures would be us v Airdire/East Fife/Montrose at Firhill whilst Falkirk play Cove again twice in 10 days. It could lead to quite a points swing.

2 really good goals. The pass from I think Bell for Foster, Foster's first touch and cross were excellent. Rudden doing a prope poachers job. Second goal is just a good. Interplay between Rudden and Graham was nice and the finsih by Rudden is top class. Tiffoney is again looking really good. Its been a while since I've seen such an electric player play in a Thistle top. Montrose look poor. Their fullbacks are struggling with Toffoney and Williamson and their midfield is getting overrun. I think we have to make some subs and rest some folk assuming the score is 2-0 or better after 60 minutes. I'd take off Tiffoney, Graham, Bell, Banngian and Foster. Put on Lyons, MacIver, Sena, Reilly and McKenna

Is that not a 4-3-3? Slightly surprised we've went for so many changes. I get that the starting 11 from the previous 2 games have played a lot of football in a short period but if we're not just rotating players we are changing the formation as well. Also if Bell can do 3 games in a week why can't Murray and McKenna? Hopefully Rudden can kick on from Tuesday's game. Also thin Cardle is more effective from the bench than starting.

Agree that we are pretty much in the top 5. I think the only way we can miss out is if we are heavily beaten by Montrose and Dumbarton so that our goal difference becomes worse than Airdrie's. East Fife would need to beat Peterhead and draw with Airdrie. It looks like 5th place at the start of the last 4 fixtures will be maximum 27 points but could be as low as 24. The means the 5th placed team could get to 36-39 points after the split fixtures are played. Conversely the 5th placed team could lose all their fixtures and be stuck on 24 points. The truth probably lies somewhere between and so 30-31 points looks a decent bet for a playoff spot. We play Montrose on Thursday and at the same time East Fife play Peterhead. If we win and Peterhead win then that estimate will drop. At the top of the league the maximum points possible pre top 5 split is 37 assuming Falkirk win their remaining fixtures. They have Cove and Peterhead away to do that so getting to 31-33 points means we not only probably make the playoffs but that we have a realistic opportunity of winning the league.

Big win tonight and we appear to have players starting to come into form which is a good sign. Tiffoney already looks like the difference between a team on the fringes of the playoff and a team capable of taking a run at the title. I think the players felt 3 points today was a must and as a result our play was a little bit too desperate first half. Clyde were clearly happy with a point and made little effort to attack which left us trying to break them down. However after tonight's results the pressure is now with Montrose. Montrose look in danger of not making the top 5. They may need 4 points from their last 2 games against us and Cove. Hopefully that means they leave themselves a bit more open at the back.

Whilst McKenna is a decent defender he's a hinderence in attack and on nights like tonight where we have load of possession he's not whats needed. Our decision making in and around the 18 yard box is not great howeverTiffoney looks a real threat running at the Clyde defence. Sneddon still gives me the fear particularly when the ball is passed back to him. I'd give it another 15 minutes and then get Williamson on for McKenna.

Despite a really horrific fixture list Clyde have had a decent run of form since the restart. They are unlikely to be automatically relegated but still need points to be sure and they will certainly need some to avoid the relegation playoff. They have a game v Dumbarton on Thursday and Forfar on Saturday which looks huge in defining who finshes 9th. Here's hoping they prioritise those games and rest a few against us. I suspect they will give it a go for a period of time but if they go a couple behind or are behind after 60 minutes they may have to sub off their better players to have shot at Dumbarton and Forfar. So we need to start with the 11 who started against Peterhead and try and make the game safe early. Only switch I would make is Wright for Sneddon if Wright is fit. We are at the part of the season where consitency of selection will help with form and results. To a certain degree the team from the top 4 that can from now on in play their best 11 as often as possible will probably win the league.

Some big results in the last few days. East Fife losing to Dumbarton, Montrose drawing with Airdrie and a good 3 points for us today. I think it means that a win against Clyde secures a top 5 place. Also I think wins against Clyde and Montrose makes it really difficult to see how we don't at least finish in a playoff spot because all those around us have to play each other in the last 2 games. Falkirk and Cove will be in the top 5 and probably the playoffs. If we can take 6 or 7 points from our last 3 fixtures we should be in the running for the league title. The top 5 split games against Falkirk and Cove are going to be huge. Squeaky bum time is fast approaching.

Comfortable performance. Don't remember Peterhead getting a chance never mind a shot on target in the second half. Now sitting 3rd and with Clyde on Tuesday and Montrose on Thursday we could get within 1 point of Falkirk before they play their next game. Their next game is against Cove so if we do win on Tuesday and Thursday we will either be 2nd and ahead of Cove or 1 point off top. Cove still have to play Montrose as well Big week ahead and its getting very tight at the top.

With exception of Sneddon flapping at crosses we look far more solid at the back. Docherty is still a little of the pace in middle of the park and we struggled for possesion in mdifield for the first 30 minutes. Hopefully second hald with the wind at our back we should be able to play higher up the park. Tiffoney looks like he can beat their right back at will. A decent team performance so far hopefully we keep it going in the second half.

I think the team selection is pretty much as expected. Looks the team is being setup to try and produce a solid defence and allow the front four more freedom to stay up the park. The concern would be if we lose the midfield where we may get outnumbered.

We will need to be top 4 after we complete 22 games. To get to top 5 I think we need 6 or 7 points. From the 4 top 5 split games we will probably need 6 points to get into the top 4 which would put mean getting to around 33 points. Given how tight the league is looking who knows where in the top 4 we will end up. I think the winner of the league will be get somewhere from 39 to 42 points which I think will mean any team making the top 5 will start the top 5 games with a chance of winning the league. As @Auld Jag and @partickthedog have already shown their isn't such a clear advantage in finishing 2nd. We won the playoffs when we finished 4th and we arguably got Stranraer who finished 9th in the league above at a good time. I remember thinking that I was glad we didn't have to face 2nd place Morton instead. This season its pretty tight between Morton, Ayr and Abroath in the playoff. If will be a sickener for one of those 3 teams to end up in the playoff and a real challenge to pick themselves up in time. Playoffs will be a lottery I would much prefer to win the league if possible. Our form doesn't provide much confidence we will do that but what perhaps offers hope is that no one else in the league appears to be any better.