Firhillista

Not sure why there's so much pessimism around about this season. I get that we haven't had any marquee signings to get excited about, but the recruitment seems to have been pretty good so far. I don't see the signing of experienced players who've won this league before as a negative at all. I get that some people would prefer that we went for young, untried guys, presumably in the hope that we uncover a total diamond who takes us to the Premiership and is transferred for squillions of pounds, but that's a bit like backing the outsider constantly in the hopes of getting the big win - it's why bookies all drive big flash cars. And one reason for optimism that hasn't been focused on enough is the recruitment of our rivals. Apart from Shankland going to United, there hasn't been a single signing by any other Championship club that's made me think, "Wish we'd got him". Teams that were challenging last season, like Inverness and Ayr, will struggle to do so again, I think. Dunfermline might be dark horses, but I don't see Morton, Queen of the South, Alloa or Arbroath threatening promotion. Which leaves the two Dundee teams. I know they've been bigged up by the usual media suspects as favourites, but that's just the usual journalistic laziness. Dundee have an untried manager and a squad more used to losing than winning. And their recruitment hasn't been anything to write home about. I think they'll struggle. We'll have to wait and see about United. If they don't make a good start, they'll be under tremendous pressure. Let's hope we can pile it on when we play them in a fortnight. However it plays out, should be an interesting season.

That makes sense. Just occurred to me that his Twitter account might be operated by someone on his behalf - it looks like a commercial operation. Presumably in Oz!

Maybe not, but he does have to be physically here to play! I was kinda looking forward to seeing him line up against Clyde..

If this guy is signing for us tomorrow, why does a post from his Twitter account this morning have him still in Australia? Genuine question, as my IT knowledge is a bit lacking on this.

Okay, here goes. Fox - okay, nothing special, think Sneddon is the better keeper. Williamson - good going forward, took his goal really well, suspect defensively, looks like he's lacking confidence. O'Ware - will be a standout this season, comfortable on the ball and a goal threat at corners. McGinty - my current favourite player, along the lines of magnificent and appalling in equal measure. Penrice - whatever the formation, don't think he should be out of the team, class act (and pleased to see he seems to have been working on his heading). Cardle - always a threat, hope we can keep him fit. Palmer - at his best, think Billy Bremner, at other times think youth player among the grown-ups. Bannigan - usual excellence, although not back to his best (will he ever be?) Robson - some flashes of excellent play, anonymous at other times. Gordon - you don't know he's on the park and then he's in the box scoring a goal. He could get us double figures this season. Miller - promising more than he's delivering at the moment, but he's going to make a significant contribution over the piece. Mansell - this boy can play, his assists alone impress, but he needs to add goals to his game. Da Vita - not on long enough to make a judgement. Crap at penalties, though. Jones - only seen about ten minutes of him over two games, but he didn't set the heather on fire. Overall, a good, if patchy, performance. Probably enough evidence to suggest we'll compete at the top of the league, but not enough to suggest we can win it.

Not sure folk understand the rules for this competition. I've seen it said that we 'lost' that game: we didn't, we drew the game and lost the bonus point. Which, given our position in the table, it's pretty good really. Just have to beat Clyde...

Nothing between the two teams, either could have won. I think Caldwell will be pleased with the performance. Best wishes to the poor soul who had the heart attack. And deep respect to the fan who gave him CPR. Outstanding.

I think it's too early to make any secure judgements about how we'll perform this season on the basis of the two games so far. I think we can be sure we'll be playing with three at the back in most games (although we went to a back four when Penrice came on last night). I don't get why there's an assumption that this is a defensive formation. Williamson and Robson were playing more like wingers last night than full backs. I am concerned about Saunders playing on the right of a back three, though, as I don't think he's got the pace for the role and he's guilty of some fairly hairy mistakes. I think we need at least two more defenders in before the end of the window. (Any chance Celtic would loan us Jack Henry to attempt to resurrect his career?) We also need more creativity from midfield. Cardle is good, but he can't do it all on his own. A replacement for Spittal is a priority. Saturday should give us a clearer idea of where we are. Hopefully, Accies won't have the same 'Corinthian spirit' as Queen's Park of booting the opposition every chance they get...

Switched off for the first thirty minutes of the second half, then got it together again for the last fifteen. Why has it always got to be the hard way with Thistle? A few takeaways from the game: Sean McGinty is on his way to being a fans favourite; Kenny Millar can still cut it; Tam O'Ware is an absolute rock at the back; and James Penrice was an absolute revelation in midfield - Bannigan needs to watch his place. (Banzo, by the way, had a mental fifteen minutes when he couldn't do anything right.) Anyway, another win. Hope they play better on Saturday.

Three at the back, two wing-backs WAY out wide, three in midfield, although Gordon is playing more like a forward, Cardle linking midfield with Miller up front. Working pretty well, but fair play to Queen's, they're working really hard to close us down.

Sorry. Humour seems to have been the first casualty in this particular scirmish!

Not having a go at all, but is this not largely what's the problem with Thistle? An acceptance that we'll never achieve anything?

The only way anyone can make any significant amount of money out of Thistle is if success can be achieved on the playing front. The ground isn't worth enough for anyone to be interested. So, are we looking at becoming successful?

Woodstock Jag's post is an excellent summary of where we are with our current shareholders, although I'm not sure that their motivation to sell, while not altruistic, might not also be compatible with being 'pro Thistle'. It really all depends on what this consortium is planning to do with the club. I'm not aware of any investors willing to put significant money into the club over the past ten years (or any time before that to be honest). The Weir's money has largely been to support youth development while providing some financial stability for the club as a whole. There's never been a suggestion that they wished to be owners When we made the top six there was a feeling that maybe we could finally become a club with a consistent place at the top of Scottish football, competing with the top teams, going on cup runs, maybe even winning one of them occasionally. (For the much older fans amongst us, this used to be called 'the status quo'.) What's happened since then has been a crushing disappointment. We've been reminded just how fragile our position is. I don't know about anyone else, but the prospect of struggling to get out of the Championship for the next couple of seasons followed by yo-yoing between the two top divisions thereafter, doesn't seem that enticing. (Folk keep saying we should be building for the future. I'm in my mid sixties. Can we put together a winning team soon? Tempus fugit and all that.) The defining issue facing us at the moment is not what the current shareholders motivations are, it's what our potential new owners plans are. Until we get some clarity on that, it's all just hot air.

There's only one dick here, pal, and that's you. You consistently talk shite. Why you think you need to share your stupidity is beyond me.

If I've read it right, the change to the goalie handling rule means that the free kick given against Sneddon for handling in the East Fife game wouldn't have occurred under these new rules, so that's an improvement.

So amongst all the angst about boardroom changes and takeovers, we've lost sight of the really important stuff: we're in discussion to sign three players, apparently. Who are they? Who's ITK?

Jesus. Here we go. Perspective anyone? The previous board are completely incompetent (possibly criminally so), the current manager is the worst on the planet, the players we have signed are uninterested, the ones we will sign are crap and the club is about to be bought by asset strippers who'll bring it all to an end. (Which might actually be a relief.) Can we all take a breath and remember that if Gerry Brittain appears at the doors of Firhill next week to tell us we've signed [insert name of preferred player] we'll all go back to thinking we'll win the league.

The system works it's just NOT easy. Took me 20 minutes last night, but I got there in the end. You have to select your season ticket seat for it to recognise that you're a season ticket holder and add the game to your card.

Absolutely spot on. VAR is the worst thing that ever happened to football.

It's Kelvindale, actually, and it's not a good look to try to defend yourself against being a bigot by denigrating someone just because of where they live. Who's blocking your free speech? Your free to express whatever views you want. And other people are just as free to express their view that your talking shite. I don't think you're a bigot because you've got different views from me. I think some of your views are bigoted because of what you've written. I get that you don't see it that way, but maybe a period of self reflection wouldn't go amiss.

The term "feeder club" has been around as long as I can remember, but I can't think of any actual examples of it happening. At the minute we're a 'feeder club' to anyone who's got the cash and, as we've seen this week, it doesn't have to be a huge amount at that!

Yes, I agree. Can't think of a transfer window as flat as this. If I was asked who I think we should sign, I'd be struggling to think of any real quality signings. Shankland is the only player at our level who stands out and even that's weird given that he was a free agent, apparently heading down south or to a team in the Premiership, and has wound up at Dundee United. Let's hope Caldwell can pull a cat out of the bag (well, okay, four or five cats) some time soon.

Maybe your analytical mind can try this - you're talking shite. No matter how you dress it up or try to justify it, all you're saying is "I'm not a bigot, but...." Moral relativism leads us to standing by while people are discriminated against and abused. There's nothing 'analtyical' about that.

So your response to people being bullied and beaten up is to say to the victims, just hide away from the bullies, don't draw attention to yourself, if they don't know who you are they won't attack you? Let's just pretend that gay people don't exist, 'cos there won't be any among the Thistle fans, will there? And Thistle should just stay out of politics because we don't want to offend anyone - well, not anyone who's homophobic anyway. Who else should we not offend - misogynists, racists, anti-semites? In this city, if there's one thing that Partick Thistle stand for it's inclusion. We don't give a flying **** if you're a Billy or a Tim, or black or gay or, dare I say it, a one-legged black lesbian saxophone player. I'm proud of Thistle for the stance they've taken on the shirt thing. My only regret is that the stripe isn't bigger.