Hopeless Unbeliever

Fish puns are shite

Wrong.

Aim for second?

Does it matter? I presume you sign up inidvidually, they choose based on the number of females/youngsters signed up and then it's the luck of the draw. Just a bit of fun and a chance to grace the famous Firhill turf. Sounds like great fun.

Ah the great memories. If only we still had super Stevie Lovell.

As Allan says, the fans have the Trust they deserve. Anyone saying they refuse to do anything until the current incumbents are gone is part of the problem, you need to participate now, contest their positions when the next vote comes around and motivate the silent majority of the Trust membership to vote for you. It shouldn't be that hard to oust them given their popularity.

Ton beating the Pars 1-0.

Is there an Open All Mics on today? Can't find anything.

If McCall plays McNamara in midfield in a 3-5-2 there is no way back.

My team Fox Paton Robertson McNamara Balatoni Boyle Hardie Cairney Flannigan Buchanan Doolan

The thing is 3-5-2 as a formation has its place at this level, Lambie swore by it in the 1st and 2nd. Leaving aside the obvious flaws in comparing today's team with the last Lambie team, I still think 3-5-2 is probably our best option. The major flaw with McCall's 3-5-2 as I see it is the role of McNamara. We can't play a 3-5-2 with McNamara as a holding midfielder. Again looking at Lambie's team (if only for player type comparisons) we typically played with a midfield 3 with Danny Lennon as the deepest lying of the 3, a far far more attack minded player but also one that offered a lot more in terms of movement than McNamara. We got away with this at home to Falkirk because they set up in a similar way, trying to play through the middle of us and we simply clogged the space. Without being at the game against Stirling it seems like they exploited our vulnerability in wide areas, which is one of the main weaknesses of McNamara (and our midfield generally). A 3-5-2 relies on the midfield offering support to the fullbacks when the opposition's fullbacks get forward, something McNamara doesn't do with his limited mobility, Flannigan is terrible at and Cairney isn't doing nearly as well this season (I actually thought he did well against Falkirk but the general consensus is he was terrible at Forthbank). Flannigan merits holding his place despite his drawbacks in this regard since his set-pieces are our one attacking outlet at the moment. We need Rowson back for McNamara. Even though he's had his poorest start to the season in Thistle colours he is still much better at covering the wing backs than McNamara and also more comfortable moving with the ball which is an important part of a 3 man midfield. The other position is up for grabs. McCall knows the progress of the youngsters better than me so if he thinks one of them can come in and do the job then they should be in. There is no reason they shouldn't have the fitness to be able to cover back when needed and they all look like having decent ability on the ball to offer an attacking threat. Otherwise, with the options available at the moment Hardie is the man for the job. He is a far more defensively responsible player than he was when with us before, and offers some muscle that our midfield is lacking (and will compensate, alongside Rowson, to some degree for Flannigan's complete lack thereof). Obviously we'd then miss Hardie upfront but he'd still be an obvious target from set pieces (including goal kicks) and we are (relative to the rest of the squad) relatively well served upfront, even if 3 of the 4 strikers are completely incapable of finding the net (I don't particularly think Hardie is much stronger in this regard, nor his goal threat much weakened from playing in the midfield). The only way 4-4-2 comes into the equation for me is if Erskine forces himself into the team, and even then that inevitably involves Flannigan and Erskine as wide midfielders, which would be a concern. I think Erskine is doomed to be a peripheral player at least this season although perhaps one that is capable of replacing Flannigan if the latter's positive contribution dries up. Basically for those that don't want to read the above essay, my team for Saturday would probably look like this (assuming Archie and Rowson fit): Halliwell (I don't know enough about the alternatives except Hinchy, shudder) Paton Robertson McNamara Archie Boyle Hardie Rowson Flannigan Doolan A.N. Other

That will be immediately after 'Workers work for free' day.

Agreed. There may have been a fair bit of naivety on the part of some Dundee fans, but to be happy they might be going under on the basis of that is pathetic.

To paraphrase a famous Scottish football manager: "Hiya Peter, hiya pal"

What's going on at Hampden this weekend?

You're milking that now.

That should be us there now then.

Have we made it? The pages have disappeared.

I suspect we're not going to get many new additions now, if anyone is planning to donate but not at the moment, I'd be happy to donate in the interim so we can get this confirmed, after Flannigan's performance last night it looks like it could be a sought after shirt. Hopefully some people that have already donated will chuck in another tenner.

I usually base my views on the value of a Thistle fan's opinion on their views of Simon Donnelly. The above poster only serves to re-inforce my standpoint.

Apologies, didn't realise that was there. Still a bit away from £440 given that the initial rush seems to be slowing down. I sometimes think threads get lost in the pinned section, certainly I sometimes forget about them. Hopefully with everyone named and shamed we can pressure the rest, true fan bragging rights are at stake here.

Admin I think it would be an idea to give us exact amounts donated so far, knowing exactly how far away from the target we were might encourage a few people who have already donated (such as myself) to throw in a little more to push us over the edge.

How we doing so far?

Full quotes from Allan Cowan: "There are still clubs who are able to spend more than we can so it will be difficult to compete with those who have bigger budgets" “It has been a long and difficult procedure, but the manager has been very co-operative and has worked very well with us." “I wouldn’t want to say we will be challenging for the title, but I think we will definitely compete and give every club a run for their money.” On the youth setup: “It is crucial and it is a disappointment to me we have not been able to do it in the past. Our youth policy has been very stop, start. This time, we intend to carry on with it because the success the Under-19 side had last year shows how worthwhile it is. “It really is something a club like Partick Thistle should be committed to and the fact we have not done it in recent years is a disappointement.” “It has never been easy to follow Partick Thistle. There are always good times and I hope we will enjoy plenty of that this term. I believe we will see skilful, entertaining football and I think there is a lot to look forward to at Partick Thistle.” Realism, touched with a hint of optimism at the end. Seriously, what are you having a go at here?