Stewarty

I'd take the piss but I managed to do something similar a few months back. I feel your pain.

And they're 7 points behind us even after today. Hardly an inspiring example.

I've defended Archie up until this point, and I'm still not convinced that he should go, but I have to admit that it's now a legitimate question. What frustrates me most is how we've completely jettisoned our passing game. I'm a Thistle fan and therefore expect my team to lose occasionally - we're a small club after all - but I do expect us to at least attempt to play football. We didn't do that today.

That was the worst 90 minutes of football I've watched all season. Confidence drained from the team the moment the ball hit the net for the first goal. There were awful performances all over the pitch. Archie tried to change things by switching to a 4-4-2 and we were treated to a comprehensive illustration of why hardly any team uses this formation any more. The back four was left exposed, the midfield were unable to retain possession and as a consequence we were restricted to hoofing it towards the front two. Positives: McDaid was bright in the first-half and Higgy was one of our better players when he came on. Negatives: just about everything else.

Thanks - I feel more involved now. While it's true that Gabby scared the life out of me at times, and therefore never convinced me that he was likely to become our first-choice centre-half, I don't think it's unreasonable to state that he had a few decent games.

Jeez. Whit a thread. Getting back to DP's hit-or-miss list, I agree with his judgement the vast majority of the time. However, putting aside those who are not yet eligible for assessment for a moment (the 'jury's out' category), I think that the use of binary categorical variables boosts the miss figures somewhat. This is because, in my opinion, more of the misses are marginal calls. Also, whether a player is a 'miss' surely depends on the expectations of the manager. Often players are brought in merely to boost the squad. This being the case, the fact that they fail to nail down a regular place in the first eleven doesn't mean that they are a failure, as they weren't brought in with that expectation. This is not to say that the manager doesn't hope that such players develop to the point where they are able to displace a regular first-team player, more that it is not the expectation. Think Ricky Lambert (Liverpool), Scott Sinclair (Man City), Scott Parker and Steve Sidwell (both Chelsea). Moreover, players in this category tend to be at clubs for a limited period of time, as they eventually get fed up with sitting on the bench. The likes of Piccolo and Carroll probably fall into this category, perhaps even Eccleston. They were brought in as back-up, and to hopefully provide some competition, but eventually got fed up and were moved on. Whether they were 'misses' is therefore more difficult to determine. I'll give you Carroll, as I don't think he was good enough even as back-up, but Piccolo was decent at times and Eccleston performed relatively well on the limited times that I saw him play. Anyway, just some thoughts. Feel free to chuck some abuse my way, as I'll feel left out otherwise and begin to think that my posts are too bland to even attract censure.

Anyone else completely lost?

We were absolutely awful tonight, there's no denying it. We were utterly devoid of ideas and there was no pattern to our play. We were effectively beaten by a well-drilled back four. It looked like someone had swapped the players' boots with clown shoes: passes were flying all over the place and everyone seemed to be trying to control the ball with their shins. I like Stevie Lawless but there are times when you can tell after 10 minutes that he's going to have one of those days. But he wasn't the only one. Higgy is still struggling to make an impact - I've no idea what's up with him at the moment; Bannigan was ineffectual at best; and Osman couldn't pass a ball further than 5 yards. There were only a couple of players who could perhaps be excused: Doolan was feeding off scraps, and scraps that had been hurled at his head from 50 yards away. Conrad seemed to be taking part in a competition to see how much height he could get on his clearances. It was the footballing equivalent of a comedy sketch in which a soldier fires a mortar that is pointing straight up. Also, O'Donnell wasn't being picked out by either Osman or Bannigan, despite the fact that he was waving his arms around as though he was directing a trafficking plane. What was most concerning is that we lost the plot towards the end. We don't seem to know how to put a team under concerted pressure. Instead the midfield goes AWOL and we end up with Gary Fraser playing quarterback, hoofing balls towards a back four only too pleased to head them straight back to whence they came. Callum Booth looked decent though...

The lineup contained in the OP is a good shout, although if Stevenson is playing at AM Bannigan may get the nod ahead of Fraser, the former being more defensively minded. Not fussed either way though. I'm feeling confident about this one. 3-1 to the Jags.

Yup, I was gutted for him. You could tell straight away that he thought it was a bad one. He recovered slightly but was limping quite badly by the end of the game. I may be wrong, but from where I was sitting it looked like he kicked the leg of an Accies player while attempting to play a cross-field pass. The Accies player came in from behind, was late and didn't get the ball, at least as far as I could tell. Again, it was an impact injury that could have happened to anyone. Really, really hope he's okay. I was watching the subs warm up prior to the match and Welsh was pinging 40 yard passes, each of which landed on the recipient's toe. The guy is class.

Fantastic performance. We were superb in every department. Doolan was sensational and really benefitted from having Stevo and Lawless close to him. Dan and Frans were in complete control at the back. I swear big Frans would tackle the Main Stand if it got in his way. Craigen had his best game in quite some time - plenty of interceptions and much better use of the ball. Elliot again proved himself to be an able deputy at left-back. He never looked stretched. Honestly, not a below par performance from anyone.

Just about to head off myself. I've decided just to wear everything I own.

Good work by the ground staff. It'll be -1 by kick-off though. Time to hunt out the hillwalking gear.

I know it's freezing and that we've had a few flurries of snow, but I'd be disappointed if the game doesn't go ahead. Is the undersoil heating insufficient or have we not been able to clear the snow?

I'd be more concerned if it was the same niggling injury that had flared up again, but we're talking about an impact injury that could have happened to anyone. Apparently the tackle was a shocker. As I've indicated before, he's one of my favorite players. He's worth persevering with in my opinion.

Yeah, I think the squad's a bit better than our league position suggests, as there have been a few ropey performances, but the comments from Archie and Stevie seem to indicate that they too are aware of this.

I don't have much of a problem with the players and manager exhibiting a bit of aspiration. It shows a confidence in their own abilities and demonstrates that they feel they are capable of performing better than they have at times this season. Top six may end up being out of our reach but it's not like they're taking about a title challenge.

I'd be happy with this.

Is this the "Defend the Indefensible" thread?

I fully expect SOD to leave in the summer; I don't think there's much hope of avoiding that. It's possible that someone tries to dislodge him in this window by offering a reduced fee in the hope that we take it rather than lose him for nowt. Given the issues we have at full-back such an offer would present us with a tricky decision. Archie would have to be really confident that he can bring in a quality replacement, and possibly a back-up too, before letting SOD go early. Personally I don't see him moving until summer unless someone makes us an offer we simply can't refuse.

Everyone is entitled to some privacy. As far as I'm concerned the club need not release a statement even after the situation resolves itself, as it may not be any of our business.

Agree wholeheartedly with folks' comments re Balatoni - he was superb today.

I know, it's really disappointing. Thankfully Utd brought a decent number.

Credit to Archie and the boys. Any preparation for this match would have been severly hampered by the late call-offs, yet, aside from the first 10 minutes, I thought we looked well organised. We ran out of steam in the second half but still managed to take a point off of a very decent Utd side. Positives: - McDaid showed that he has a bright future at the club. He kept things relatively simple but was always alert and assured in posession. - Similarly, Lindsay had a solid game against an attack with pace and power. - Stevenson was absolutely superb. The worry has always been that playing him in the AM position may leave our central midfielders too exposed. I never felt this was the case today: he ran his socks off, linked midfield and attack well, and threw his weight about when it was required. - Wee Lawless must have put glue on his boots prior to kick off, as the ball stuck to him even in the tightest of positions. He looked really dangerous in the first half and has made the case for a more regular start. Negatives - As we know, we are down to the bare bones. This being the case Archie didn't have much scope to change things when we were under pressure. We definitely need a few new faces. - The guy sitting a couple of rows in front of me who did nothing but bellow abuse at the players. It was really tiring having to listen to the bile and garbage emanating from his gob. Thankfully this is the first time I've seen him so hopefully he'll sod off somewhere else in future. He would fit in well with the opposition's support. Overall, far more positives than negatives.

Stevenson is having a fantastic game. McDaid has impressed too. We should be two ahead.