Buckstone

Yeah, forgot about Jamie Adams. Another 'what might have been' ....

I went along to Somerset yesterday. There were 4581 paying customers and a few hundred kids got in for free. Great atmosphere from start to finish (and beyond). Absolutely terrible game and Stranraer were the better team, but over the season it worked out about right. It was a proper Thistle reunion. Stranraer had Mark McGuigan (looked dangerous all game) and Paul Cairney (who looked fat all game, but still leagues better than this level). I wonder how his career would have panned out if he'd stayed with us ... As well as Stevo, Ayr have Paddy Boyle who's done well this season too. He made it into the League 2 team of the year. I go along there almost as much as Firhill these days and, alghough it's a bit of a dump, I love the layout way more than modern stadia. It'll be a sad day when / if they ever move.

We need a forum. Ideally this one !!!

I heard exactly the same as Lindau from a (presumably different) source within Firhill. That was towards the end of last season though, so I wasn't surprised to see this thread. I think many players believe they're better than the really are, so this won't be a new issue. The key thing is how Archie manages it. Fraser needs to make a choice, and if he gets it wrong his career could be over before it's started.

Totally agree. But then I'm a hypocrite because, due to work and other family commitments, the only game I can make in the next month is Motherwell away. Hope we have a good support there too. See you there !!!!

The reason why this was necessary is around us every day. The newspapers are not worthy of the tag. The Herald used to run a readers comments column called 'Fans with Laptops'. That aptly describes the staff more than anything else. Everything in that ad was legally correct but you wouldn't realise it given the response that it's had. You'll no doubt notice none of the comments will challenge what it contained - only the rights and wrongs of whether it should have been punlished. But the really important aspect is that it lets the corrupt SFA / SPL see in a very public way that we know there was an almighty carve up to preserve a Rangers - even if they didnt manage to get them into the top league. Do you think we'd still exist if it was us that were in that state ? The only thing that I didn't like was that the Celtic fans did this themselves. I think the messgae would have carried more weight if they'd engaged with fans of other clubs and submitted it as a joint effort. While I don't care about Rangers, I do care about Scottish football and the way it is run. A full clearout is required -Regan, Doncaster, Ogilvie et al are on borrowed time, and need to go before the game can move forward. This will make uncomfortable reading for them, and anything that does that is ok in my book.

...... from Somerset Park (well, 24 hours ago - had some password issues signing in). Ryan Scully had another clean sheet and a good game last night. Ayr huffed and puffed but he was pretty much untroubled all evening. I think he's improved hugely since he started getting regular first team football. I had a look on the Pars forum and they love him. Ayr had Kevin McKinley at left back and Paul Slane in midfield. I think they've found their level (and am glad it wasn't with us). I hoped they'd do better for us, but how many players have we thought that about ?

The Dundee Utd and Ayr Utd games will take some beating, and I'll be happy if I never experience the likes of those again. One other horrible one (but not on the same scale) was my first, and only, visit to Cliftonhill. It must have been in the early / mid eighties, when the likes of John Flood were playing for us. We were 2 up within 10 minutes and although Albion Rovers pegged us back level, it was soon 4-2 to the Jags, and just a question of many we'd win by. Needless to say, we lost 5-4. It was cold, gloomy, wet and dark. Not being from Coatbridge, I don't know if that's what it's like all year round, but I never risked finding out by returning .....

I think that makes it 5 home league games, and 2 goals scored. Both penalties from Muirhead. For me, that sums up the season so far. Where would we be with even 2 or 3 goals from outfield play ?

There are 16 teams in the Performance / Elite group. They are - Celtic Rangers Aberdeen Dundee Utd Inverness Caley Thistle Hearts Hibs Motherwell Kilmarnock St Mirren Hamilton Accies Dunfermline Athletic Falkirk Ayr Utd Stenhousemuir Queen's Park Some of the teams / set-ups are really impressive. Many of them are funded from sources other than the clubs themselves, which protects them to a certain extent in the current climate. Really pleased that we're getting involved in this - there's loads of talent out there, so hopefully we can bring some through.

I've heard people talking about it before, but last week I was asked which of the OF I really support !!! Worst of all, it was a genuine question and she was perplexed when I told her I hated them both equally. My view that they're not both big teams these days didn't go down too well either .....

I've just had a look at the St Mirren and ICT forums. Their fans are going ballistic at the statements issued today. Obviously we're not the only ones perplexed by the statements made by our BoD .....

If they allow them in, not only will I not be back, but my 2 kids won't be back either. I'm not prepared to let them follow a sport that is rigged. Although they love Thistle, they're young enough to still have plenty of other (time-consuming and expensive) interests.

Nothing to debate. If we vote them in, I'll never be back. It's that simple. Did you see the bit about showing their games in Div 1 on Sky ? What about ours ? Exactly - there for a season and laughing up their sleeves at the mugs they're shafting. Grow a pair and tell them where to go.

I see they didn't mention the bit about Newco felding 14 players at a time and the other teams being capped at 8. They don't want to take any risks, you know ..... I have faith that our board (and all the other SFL clubs) will do the right thing. As I've said before, if they don't I won't be back. When I was a little kid I used to love wrestling - until the day I was told it was rigged. I've never watched it since, so why on earth would I want to see Thistle participate in a similar farce ? I've always thought that we were an honest club, and did what was right. I hope that faith has not been mis-placed.

Population of Uruguay (World Cup semi-finalists) - 3.4 million.

At the weekend, I sent an e-mail to the Board (it's below). I was furious then (and still am) so perhaps could have done it better with a calm head. Nevertheless, the sentiments are unchanged - if Scottish football is to have any credibility, any new club must start at the bottom. Would we be happy to accept Spartans into Div 1 in the manner suggested ? And no offence to them - they're more deserving ......... If there's any truth in this, I've got a bundle of things I can do at the weekend instead. I’ve just read the Statement that you posted on the web-site where you offer the opinion that the current troubles at Rangers are nothing to do with Thistle, and also that any media reporting to the contrary is speculation. That appears to be contradicted by an article in today’s Daily Record which suggests that discussions have been held between representatives of the SPL, SFA and SFL ‘chiefs’ aimed at thrashing out a deal that sees the New Company / Club that is likely to replace Rangers being parachuted into Division 1. I don’t set much store by anything I read in that publication but, given that the law of averages suggests they’ll get a story correct eventually, I’d like to let you know what I’d expect to happen if that were the case. Quite simply, I’d not only expect Partick Thistle to vote ‘No’ to this proposal, but I’d expect the Chairman to publicly go on record in the same way that the Hearts and Dundee Utd chairmen have done on the subject of the New Club’s application to the SPL. My father took me to my first Thistle game (a 2-2 draw with Clyde about a month before the 1971 League Cup Final) and while I don’t currently have a season ticket, I reckon I’ve averaged about 25 games per season over those 40 years. That will end forever in the event that Thistle put cash before what is right for Scottish football and collude and conspire in the ripping-up of the rule book, simply to accommodate an entity which cheated it’s way through the past decade and a half. If the roles were reversed and we (or Falkirk or Morton or Montrose or any other team) had committed even a fraction of the crimes that have been documented, we’d have been back playing amateur football months ago. You might argue that the financial benefits are too great to ignore. While I don’t think a sport can even consider putting money ahead of rules and integrity, even if you do the numbers won’t add up. Thistle might get a small slice of the TV pie for a year and perhaps benefit from a couple of bigger gates but I’d be interested to hear what your projections on those are. The days of Rangers and Celtic attracting crowds of 25,000 to Firhill are gone. Is it worth selling our soul for a couple of 9,000 gates and £50k (or whatever) from TV ? It might be worth considering how you’d budget for the day when / if they’re back in the SPL and gates drop back down, not to 3,000 but to 500 ? You might think that’s overly dramatic, but I think it’s conservative. I urge you to take into account the views of the fans. This may be a rant (sorry – I’ve got angrier the more I type and think of other strands) but I’m certain this is a view shared by the over-whelming majority of Thistle fans, not to mention fans of other SPL / SFL teams. We are at a cross-roads and you have the opportunity to become involved in the biggest positive change in Scottish football for generations. You must not allow Thistle to make the wrong choice – if you do, you soon won’t have a club to run (and that would break my heart). Vote No !!!!

ClydebankJag - totally agree with your second point. Totally disagree with your first point though. How can you know that ? Too late to do anything about it perhaps, but every game they played in that period is questionable at best.

Forgot to say the AUFA web-site contains a good little report on the recent Thistle - Ayr U13s game at Petershill. Sounds promising for both teams .....

I would be really interested to know more about our Youth Academy. Not just results, but an overview of what teams we have, what standard they're at, who the coaches are, how it's funded, etc. One of my boys has just gone Pro-Youth with Ayr. There's a shed load of info available on them - their Youth Academy has even got its own web-site (www.aufa.org.uk). Now, the club only contribute about 25% of the funding and the rest comes from the local council, NHS, fans groups and so on. I don't have a clue if we've got similar arrangements in place, but if we don't I'd be asking why not ? The way things are going, I think more and more clubs will have little alternative but to field more youngsters - I hope we're not going to get left behind .....

B*gger. Thought that might be the reply. In that case, think Div 1 will be like 2 min-leagues next season. Hopefully with us in the top half ......

What happens if Rangers are in Div 3 next season (now there's a pleasant thought). And not beyond the realms of possibility. Presumably the Pars stay up, County go up, and Cowdenbeath replace them. So do Queens still go down, to be replaced by the play-off winners ? And do Ayr stay up ? Certainly hope so, living just a couple of miles away .....

So, someone comes along to invest £10m in Thistle. Only conditions are that we have to play in blue tops and white shorts, change our name to Partick Rangers and move to a bigger stadium (reasonably nearby) to take account of the greater number of fans that the increased success would bring. That could never happen. Could it

Media coverage of this is scandalously deficient. If you ever suspected the media were in their back pocket, this confirms it. They're blatantly refusing to publish what they know, perhaps for fear of upsetting the great unwashed. Have a read through the main articles in www.rangerstaxcase.com and you'll get a better idea of what's happened, as well as the likely outcomes. As with all blogs, you can't assume it's all 100% accurate, and it certainly has C*lt*c leanings, but there's a lot of investigative work on show. Probably best to read the main articles in chronological order, then the comments (fair amount of partisan comment in there, as you might expect). If this plays out as expected, it'll be the best belated Christmas present ever .....

His one-footedness, while still mega annoying, doesn't bother me as much as it used to. What irritates though are his inability to take on a man, his hopeful punts up the wing, and his ability to blame his mistakes on other team mates. His first half against County last week was embarrassing for all these reasons. Obviously it's all about opinions, and I think he's one that will always divide the fans. I think that if O'Donnell gets a shot at RB, it'll be a long road back for Paton.