exiledjag
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Posts posted by exiledjag
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Agree with Sandy except would like Adeloye on perhaps for whole of second half.
On a more general note given Arbroath's strength in midfield which has already been mentioned on this thread, it might have been better to play Williamson instead of Stanway or Bannigan to give a bit protection to our back 4. Just a thought.
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Did anyone see the QP/Ayr game on TV last night?
According to the BBC website the game was televised on BBC Scotland at 7.45pm. I intended to watch but all I got was Inside Centrsl Station and a Farming programme..
Anyway to today's game. Arbroath after a poor start are certainly firing on all cylinders now with 4 straight wins - 3 League and a League Cup!
We have enjoyed the upper hand against Arbroath in recent games but both teams will be confident of winning.
To be honest I haven't a clue how this game will go. As previously stated if we keep tabs on McKenna we can win. I think all our big players have all got to play well - Graham, Lawless Fitzpatrick, McInroy Milne & Sneddon for example.
In this league the first goal is always important and in this game I think critical. If we, with home advantage, can score first and get the momentum then I think we can take the 3 points. Unfortunately I think the same applies to Arbroath! My only concern, as always, and has been already mentioned is our paper thin midfield. Something Doolan must try to address in the January window.
C'mon the Jags!!
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On 9/19/2023 at 10:51 AM, lady-isobel-barnett said:
Do agree that three at the back both opens the way to play Adeloye with Graham together and it's a formation worth deploying from time to time, especially on narrow pitches away from Firhill. Having two full backs that are capable wingbacks more than helps.
One problem is a lack of centrebacks, and not one of the three we have is naturally left sided. So yes we do miss Holt in a way. I know Milne can play left centreback if called upon but then we're left with no credible left wingback. Then at the same time we're loaded (some might say overloaded) in central midfield as it is. Not having an out and out ball winning midfielder means we really have to play an extra midfielder and not one less. In turn that means no place in a 3-5-2 (3-5-1-1) for Fitzy and Lawless.
Looks to me that Doolan can't resolve a change in formation due to the squad he's selected. By that I'm not meaning over a short period or during a game but over any protracted period. Be interested to know how your optimum starting eleven would look like playing 3-5-2 (3-5-1-1)?
As usual your analysis is spot on. I think that the conclusion I am reaching with the help of your analysis is that with the current squad a 3 at the back formation just isn't feasible as it would require too many compromises further forward.
The 4-2-3-1 formation has served us well, last seasons play-off games, for example. I just think we have a player in Adeloye and if we don't play him we will lose him. His problem is that the player keeping him out seems to be the heart and soul of the team. I just wonder if Doolan will be brave enough to teplace Graham with Adeloye when his form shades off as it generally does at some point in a season
I will keep the 3-5-2 formation up my sleeve for the time being and think about it again when we replace Holt with somebody similar and sign a strong ball winning, holding midfielder.
Thank you for your insights they were very helpful. We definitely cannot drop Lawless!
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I would still be inclined to play Graham and Adeloye together if not in a 4-4-2 formation then in a 3-5-2 or a 3-5-1-1 as he seems to have the attributes to play with or behind Graham and the pace to get forward to support him. I appreciate playing any of the above formations has implication for the way we play at the moment but that is for Doolan to resolve. IMO Adeloye is too good a player to sit on the bench and we need to find a way to get him onto the park.
Although the team is on an upward trajectory we are still short of where we were last season. For example, I still think we are missing Holt is central defence and the problem that Doolan has not resolved is the strong tackling ball winning midfielder.
We are winning games hut not without being under pressure early in the game and at Ayr for most of the first half. Had Sneddon not been on form and Ayr totally inept with the final ball we could easily have been 2 or 3 behind by the time Lawless got our second. Doolan is doing a fantastic job but there are still issues he needs to resolve. We won't get away with an Ayr (first half) performance against Dundee Utd.
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6 hours ago, lady-isobel-barnett said:
Not for me. Dropping a midfielder would only further expose our fragile defending in that area. 4-4-2 doesn't suit attacking full backs. Besides the Lawless-Graham-Fitzpatrick partnership doesn't warrant being disrupted.
A benefit of 4-4-2 would see Graham less isolated but I feel McInroy/Robinson are more than able to get close to Big Brian. Tho' it didn't work recently sticking two up top later in a game you're winning has merit from a defensive point of view.
Taking up your last point having both Graham and Adeloye on from the start would require the opposition to keep 3 defenders back as well i admit to not having see a lot of Adeloye, who has, but the two goals he has scored suggest he has the first touch, strength, pace and composure to score more. His presence would surely take some of the pressure and workload off Graham.
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4 hours ago, thornwoodjag said:
Who would your 4 in midfield be ?
Not a clue! That's up to Kris Doolan to sort out, perhaps in the January transfer window. I would recommend that with 4 midfield players 2 of them should be capable of of winning the ball and breaking up opposition attacks.
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15 hours ago, Garscube Road End 2 said:
Not bad but it hasn't been entirely impressive. Its just a poor standard of a league.
Not sure I agree with this. For a team that's near the bottom of the league I thought Ayr played some very attractive football. Throughout their team the first touch to control the ball, their passing and running off the ball was excellent. Their weakness was obvious, they can't score goals but perhaps we have a very impressive Jamie Snedden to thank for that! If the teams above Ayr are superior to them in the attributes just mentioned then I would think the league is of a reasonable standard. It is also generally competitive more so than the SPL.
Anyway I am distracted. I came on here this morning to float the idea of changing formation to get Adeloye into the team. Say playing 4-4-2 with Graham and Adeloye as our two strikers.
Thoughts anyone.
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When I was younger I recall my father, a Morton supporter, talking in very favourable terms about Third Lanark and Cathkin Park. He thought they were an iconic club, great strip%colours, legendary forward trio of Hilley, Harvey and Gray, and best playing surface in Scotland.
We decided to go to Cathkin to see a summer evening midweek game Third Lanark v Morton. By this time Thirds were in decline and Morton on the rise. The score 3-1 for Morton. There was a good crowd and atmosphere and had I not been a Jag I could easily have become a Thirds supporter. I could sense they were a special club and Cathkin was a special place.
It was sad and criminal that the Scottish Football authorities allowed this great club to disappear.
So my answer is this if the Jags disappeared then I would turn my back on football. There is no alternative for me.
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A big well done to management, players and travelling fans on a convincing win. A special mention for Sneddon (excellent throughout):and Lawless (mainly second half).
I couldn't see us, at HT, winning this game but we managed to turn it around in the second half and won at a canter. Bodes well for the rest of the season.
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On 9/9/2023 at 5:48 PM, Duke Gekantawa said:
Erm.. no. Doolan will be judged on league form only. Going out of the challenge cup will not have an iota of a relevance to Doolan’s position; no more than if we won the thing but were in a relegation battle.
My comment was tongue-in-cheek!!
The result is, I agree, completely irrelevant with regard to Doolan's future.
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On 8/18/2023 at 6:36 AM, Lenziejag said:
Is it really one that can be discounted ? I think last year’s defeat at Falkirk was the beginning of the end for McCall as it showed that what we thought was a good squad wasn’t as good as we thought.
Is today's result the beginning of the end for Doolan?
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19 hours ago, lady-isobel-barnett said:
Just watched the highlights and it looked like we dominated the second half.
The first goal was typical Lawless; all craft, and composure.
Graham's two were quick reaction and instinctive.goals. Doesn't he just love to celebrate a goal!!
Adeloye's goal was good to in f He held off the defender, turned him and then finished off the move very well.
Two things I liked about the goal was his mobility and composure.
I think Dowds has promise but I think he seems to lack the mobility Graham has. It's difficult to see how Dowds can get into the team now that we have Adeloye.
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That must have been some half time pep talk by Doolan! Great result.
Well done to all involved including travelling fans!.
Imrie -two home defeats "under pressure"!!!
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12 minutes ago, lady-isobel-barnett said:
Game appears to be starting at 3pm. Some horrendous delays on the M8.
Heard one of the players in the starting Xl is far from 100% so don't be surprised if there's an early non tactical subbing.
If we have a player who is far from 100% fit - what's he doing in the team?
Perhaps our bench is not as strong as we think!
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On 8/25/2023 at 7:50 PM, paralytic thistle said:
Jimmy Davidson, Frank Donlevy and Sandy Brown, they all get my vote
I have nemories of Frank Donlevy and Ssndy Brown but not so sure about Jimmy Davidson though I think I saw him a few times.
I recall my father taking me to Firhill as a youngster to see a game against Celtic. We suffered a crushing defeat, think 5-1 with John Hughes giving Joe Hogan a torrid time.
My father said that our manager, Willie Thornton (I think) lost us the game by playing Hogan against Hughes and not Donlevy.
Apparently he saw an earlier game where Donlevy was up against Hughes and he gave that big brute a very hard time, within the rules of course. According to my father Donlevy had Hughes in his back pocket and the Celtic fans were furious with some of Dunlevy's tackling which the referee was quite happy with. So on this basis I would go for Dunlevy.
I would loved to have seen Dunlevy playing against Hughes and bulldozing him out of the game.
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12 hours ago, Third Lanark said:
They lost Murray and the big centre back who has signed for Dundee. Arguably their best 2 signings
Did I hear correctly their goalkeeper is only 16 years old
My comments were focused on the ins and outs in the current transfer window so I don't think you can count Murray as QP lost him during the January transfer window..
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I had a bad, bad feeling about this game so absolutely delighted we won. 3 assists for Lawless! He must have been near enough unplayable.
Great result and well done the Jags.
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9 hours ago, Lenziejag said:
Think we need to score 3 to win.
We have 3 - is that the game won?
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3 minutes ago, dl1971 said:
Or win tomorrow and things look better. I know what I'd prefer to think.
I hope for a win tomorrow as well but we are no longer the team that performed so well in the play-offs and that was cheated at Dingwall.
The fact is QP still have Thomas while we have lost Holt, Turner, Tiffoney and Docherty. It also looks at the moment, that their new players are far better than our new players.
I think the odds like Dingwall, are against us.
Doolin is going to have to work some miracles this season if we are to stay in the championship.
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On 8/17/2023 at 3:09 PM, Jaggernaut said:
That's a good starting point for another topic, but I'll continue it here:
Who is the "hardest" Thistle player that you can remember? That is, somebody who never took prisoners, and sometimes even went beyond the "call of duty".
I'll propose Charlie Smith. I used to watch him a lot during games, and he got up to tons of "stuff" even when the ball was far away. I distinctly remember him cussing and then seriously clugging a h*n within a very short time in a match at Firhill; and he seemed happy to take the booking. Basically, in season 70-71 he was hard as nails.
Ronnie Glavin wasn't averse to mixing it either.
More recently........ well, who?
I was at the game at Firhill in the early 70's when we beat Rangers 3-2. John Gibson scored 2 I think one was a header. Jags came back from 0-1 (Alex McDonald scored the opener).
I recall Charle Smith tangling with Colin Stein for possession of the ball and both fell to the ground. The ref waved play on and as the game moved away. As the two were getting to their feet Smith landed a right upper cut onto Stein's jaw. Stein went down and the Rangers fans went berserk! Jags supporters applauded. Ref looked back when he heard the roar of the crowd but I don't recall him doing anything.
Great match, great atmosphere and a great result. The sun was even shining - but then it always foes at Firhill.
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I watched the highlights (over and hour) of this match and was astonished by the red card.
However if the ref sent off Docherty for swearing even though the expletive was not directed at him then that is a very wide interpretation of abusive behaviour. So as has been said on this thread already - better not to swear at all.
To the football. I thought the Jags looked the better team and deserved to win. However I also thought the standard was poor. All kick and rush with very little football being played. I am sure the ladies eill improve as the season goes and they lose the close season rustiness. The squad looks stronger and should be aiming for top 6 again albeit it will be tough.
Dundee utd looked like relegation material.
Well done to the Jags Ladies on an convincing win.
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5 hours ago, jlsarmy said:
Don’t think you can judge any of the new players after 2 games, if you were at the game today our most experienced players were poor, Muirhead , Lawless , Bannigan and Graham.
Wasiri was our best player by a mile today, Doolan needs to play some of the new signings from the start to get them up and running.
No idea why Danny Mullen wasn’t kept , knew the League, had a work ethic and could nick a goal from the bench
Not sure where that’s coming from now .
This was always going to be a team in transition this season, it’s going to take time .
Agree with comment about Mullen.. I was surprised we let him go and would have wanted him retained/resigned.
I think I read somewhere that Mullen wanted a guarantee of more game time and that Doolan (understandably) couldn't give him what he wanted so he left.
Can anyone clarify the Millen situation?
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1 hour ago, CotterJag said:
3rd best outcome from a financial point of view and we might just nick it.
Glad the Dundee's are out too.
Second th e above and especially Dundee failing to progress..
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Liked him a lot. Never short of effort or commitment. Always trying to urge and encourage team mates. A great servant to the club.
RIP Benny.
Jags vs. Lichties, 23rd Sep
in Main Jags forum
Posted
Clearly not firing on all cylinders