Armand2

Considering the amount of wayward shots he's had, I'd argue that that's not the case - proportionately, he probably has one of the worst.

Let's also not forget the countless aimless, wild swings in between those goals you mention.

I presume you missed the cretin who managed to make his way to the dugout to throw a scarf at the bench? And some shrieking female shouting incessant tactical instructions to Archie. And the general behaviour of that heed-the-baw who sells that SITB drivel.

Woeful from Thistle last night, well and truly hounded in the first half by a United team set up to exploit our defensive frailties. It could have been more than three at half time and I wouldn't have had many complaints. Utterly failed to win any second ball in the middle of the park for long periods which resulted in undergoing sustained pressure that an already shaky defence couldn't endure. Osman offered very little protection to a makeshift defensive pairing in the first half and I thought Syme was badly exposed at full back, a position I think it's fair to say he won't be challenging for in the first team any time soon. I'm yet to be convinced of the effectiveness of this new tactic that we appear to have developed where the centre halves, be it Devine, Ziggy or on Saturday, Lindsay, are permitted to lump long (often aimless) diagonals up the pitch in the hope of working off a second ball. It's especially useless when the target of these punts is Lawless. I have no idea whether Scully was at fault for any of the goals but it can't be disputed that he has a horrible habit of holding the jersey when we ship goals. Firmly in the Jamie MacDonald school of goalkeeping whereby you only mention the fact he had a good game after he's let numerous goals in. The importance of Cerny was again highlighted in terms of ability but more the confidence he instils in the defence. Credit to United, I thought they played a very good game in the first half and looked well drilled in how to expose us especially in behind our full backs. We never got to grips with them in midfield all night. It was also a pretty embarrassing night off the field for Thistle with a few folk making utter fools of themselves. Plus points were Osman got 90 minutes under his belt, however torrid the first 45 of them were, and it underlined the fact that Ziggy is a far more capable full back than centre half, a position that we'll hopefully have added to come our next game. It's a diddy cup anyway...

F*ck me, are folk seriously proposing the signing of Scott Boyd?

My eyes are very wide apart. Like Jar Jar Binks.

I can see both sides of the fence in relation to Balatoni. On one hand, Archie will know exactly what to expect from him and I'm sure he'll fit back in with most of the boys in the squad as if he's never been away. He does a number of things well, knows our style of play and can be a threat at set-pieces. On the other hand, from what I've seen so far, I'd say he's too similar to Devine in the way he wants to bring the ball out of defence. His whole nonsense about being "too proud" to come back despite us offering him something last summer must be a vacillating principle. For me, it would be a no - we can and should be aiming for better.

On the whole, it was a relatively professional job for the most part. We made unnecessary heavy weather of it in the second half by trying to sleepwalk our way to victory but I was impressed with the ease that we stepped it back up to put the game to bed. I wouldn't dispute giving Man of the Match to either Welsh or Amoo. I thought Welsh controlled the game in the first half, spread play very well and dispatched the penalty expertly. Faded like the rest of the team for a spell in the second half but came back to the fore as it wore on. Amoo demonstrated some great wing play and had the Stenny full-back on the back foot all night. Some great cut backs in the first half that were begging to be put away. I thought Edwards had a strong first half but in the second showcased why he shouldn't be deployed in one of the two sitting midfield roles. His positional discipline isn't good enough to play in there; by charging about to close down the ball, he endangers the team's shape and it was no coincidence in my opinion that Stenny gained a foothold (however slight) in the game when our efficiency in possession decreased resulting in more Edwards' closing. Booth looked more like himself although got caught up the pitch a couple of times in the second half. Ziggy is a very solid player, excellent positionally and a lot better going forward than I initially thought he was. Lindsay does a lot of things very well but can be lethargic in possession at times and got caught once or twice. If he irons those out of his game, we'll make serious dosh on him. He's a behemoth. Syme did reasonably well but wasn't properly tested. Quite like the look of him though and not sure why Killie were so keen to punt him. Dools was totally wasted out on the left in the second half but I thought he looked quite handy in the more withdrawn forward role in the first half which might be an option for games where we choose to go with Pogba. Azeez will certainly get himself into dangerous positions but his finishing looks wasteful; similar to Liam Buchanan who would need about 6 or 7 chances to stick one away. A great option from the bench though as his pace and strength will be difficult to play against. Let's just hope nobody plays a high line though or else he'll permanently be offside. Very frustrating last night as his sheer pace means he doesn't need to go early. I think our attacking play makes us well suited to cup competition this season; if we go balls-out, gung-ho against teams, I don't think there's many that can live with that.

McMillan is a fine player and I think it's quite sad that he's deprived himself (and even sadder if it wasn't through his own doing) of the opportunity to showcase those talents in the Premier League. It's even more disappointing that he refused a contract which would have given him a wage over the last year and saw fit to slander the club when it would seem we went above and beyond what may have been reasonably expected of an employer in a case of gross misconduct. From a playing perspective, I'd love to see a player of McMillan's ability back at the club; but it would be very difficult to reconcile the rather bitter split. People make mistakes, and some deserve second chances, but to suggest the club hung him out to dry when it was made abundantly clear that we didn't means that opportunity won't be forthcoming.

Higginbotham's second half of the 2013/14 season was up there with Erskine the previous year in terms of individual brilliance. I wouldn't disagree with the notion that without him, we might have found ourselves in a far more precarious position than we did that year. But since then, it's been abject mediocrity, both here and Kilmarnock. He should be a stand out at Championship level though and he could very well push Dunfermline right into play-off contention. From an opposition's perspective though, an attacking duo of Higgy and Joe Cardle is thoroughly detestable.

A great example why it doesn't matter a jot whether we play over summer or not - a truly miserable night. I thought Airdrie caused us quite a few problems down our left side. Whether that was down to the quality of their play (thought the Airdrie right full back had a good game), the lack of fitness of Booth and Lindsay or a combination of both, I'm not sure. What is for certain is that we looked decidedly ropey defensively at times and a more clinical team would have punished us. Crawford is certainly vocal enough which I like but I did think there were certain indications why he's played at a lower level for the majority of his career. I didn't think he came off his line enough and he seemed far too keen to play the ball out, putting us under unnecessary pressure at times. Made a fine save in the first half when Lindsay and Devine got absolutely ripped with a simple third man run. It's hardly a ringing endorsement for Scully that many of us didn't feel any less secure with Crawford in goals. Will certainly do us a turn over the next few weeks. Wilson had a fine game and seen a lot of the ball. He was playing more of a deep lying role which I think is his best position. Strong contender for MOTM for me. Against lower league opposition - and no offence to Airdrie who were well in the game - Welsh's quality is pretty clear to see, in my opinion. Ziggy had a solid debut and lasted very well, fitness wise, considering he's only just arrived. Will be interesting to see to what extent Archie and Shaggy can bring on his attacking play to fit in with our style. Azeez looked like a cult hero in the making - out muscle and skin the full back on one hand then haplessly shank the ball out of play from a throw in on the other. Sure he'll fit in just fine at Thistle. Jokes aside, he looks like a very handy option from the bench and is definitely a centre forward - I thought he might have been able to be utilised in one of the wide positions but I wouldn't have thought so on last night's evidence. McDaid really has to start showing more on his first team outings or else he'll struggle to get a new deal. Part of me wondered whether he was in last night partly to give Airdrie a look at him because I suspect he'll be put out on loan. Still a work in progress but that's only to be expected so early in pre-season. This competition flies in the face of what is usually the objective at this stage of the season; we'd normally be looking for a performance rather than a result. Think there's a lot of things that require ironing out (number of substitutes, use of trialists, etc.) before next year. That said, when we last had a "competitive" edge to our pre-season in the Firhill tournament in 2012, we won the Championship.

Called it.

Hang on a second here. Correct me if I'm wrong but you started a thread recently decrying the fact that we had yet to start any business; now you "love the way Archie keeps his cards close to his chest"?

If we have aspirations of trying to secure a top half finish, we're going to need solid, dependable players like Miller in the squad so from that perspective, I'm very sorry to see him go. However at his stage in his career, he has to be playing most weeks and that isn't something we can guarantee if Dumbuya is fit. He'd be a stellar signing for any Championship side. We may have had the fourth best defensive record in the league however it was quite evident in the closing weeks of the season that Cerny played a pivotal role in that statistic. Also disappointed to see Gallacher depart. If we'd been lucky enough to sign him a couple of years ago, he'd have been our number one without a shadow of doubt. Not too clued up on his qualities as a coach but he seemed to be well liked around the club and I presume played a significant role in recommending that we sign Cerny. I wonder if Queen of the South's goalkeeping coach is looking for a gig a bit closer to home...

A lot of folk seem to be allowing the fact Frans was a nice guy to cloud the fact he was a very average defender. He would have been solid enough back-up but I wouldn't have been too confident with him as a starter. He was far too cumbersome for my liking, quite rash at times in terms of tackling (first game of last season against Hamilton, for example) and his positioning and tendency to come charging out of position was concerning. I suspect Archie saw him as no more than back-up and offered an appropriate deal in terms of recompense and length of contract. Anyone who thinks he was worth more than another year on the back of his performances last season must be off their rocker. He's won a watch with a three-year contract at Lierse so good on him.