allyo

Watching again this morning, Jonathan Sutherland really wound me up. Very little credit for Thistle, focusing on refereeing decisions going against Falkirk. Its like he really wanted Falkirk to win. If his coverage was for a Falkirk channel it wouldn't have been out of place. Also, my obsession, treating every decision as if it should be corrected by VAR, when VAR isn't there to ruin everything. Honestly, I thought Bannigan's red was soft but probably fair for persistence. Falkirk's red was harsh (incorrect) but understandable on first viewing. The "potential penalty incidents" that they showed were a joke. And Ablade was only offside maybe if you starting drawing elbow lines. So really, there was very little need to spend the night focusing on refereeing decisions. I know JS isn't the editor. But he still annoyed me. Anyway, great win.

The management of tonight's game in difficult circumstances could swing it in favour of the current duo. Let's see what happens next week.

A few years ago that goal would have been 100% onside with no one questioning it. VAR has come in (and ruined football) and forced everyone to discuss toes and elbows, but without VAR surely the old "if you're level you're onside" principle still has to apply. That TV coverage still wants to make an issue of things that they can freeze frame, when they know the damage that VAR has done to the spirit of the game, is really sad.

I feel really sorry for anyone who thinks that leaving a job or a city to go home when you're unhappy or lonely is a weird or unbelievable thing to do.

No problem with Graham and Wilson staying on. But are there jobs that should be getting done at this stage of the season, which cannot be done without a manager and while awaiting a Sporting Director? I'm thinking like renewing contracts, identifying potential targets etc. Or is that not really a priority at this point?

Is Brian Graham still managing the women's team? That's some shift he's putting in if so.

Hamilton would need a win or a draw against Dunfermline to catch us. They'd have to win all of their other five games. If that happens, Dunfermline need to win all of their other six games to catch us. If that happens, QP will have lost two games. They'd need to win their other four to catch us. Obviously then we'd need to lose our other three. That's 17 games have to go completely against us. The Hamilton Dunfermline game can go against us in two ways. With three possible outcomes for each game (win lose draw), the number of potential outcomes is, I believe, 3^18. Odds are therefore 193,710,243.5 to 1.

Suspect Banzo could be breaking club records with his yellow cards. Have always liked him, and it's been good to see him getting form back in the last year or so, but his timing in the tackle has always been pretty terrible.

See when you look at Calum Davidson, and Michael Tidser, and actually just about everyone ever... Do you ever think there's really no such thing as good and bad football managers (except maybe at the very highest level)? Just good luck and back luck.

I just looked at the job advert for the first time. Strikes me as quite a niche skillset. You need someone who has experience of football and player recruitment at a decent level (probably an ex manager) and also has business experience and can be a club ambassador. Which, I suppose you can also gain from being a football manager. Actually, why don't we just get a football manager? Is the idea that you don't have to sack a sporting director during a poor run of results, so you can get a bit more continuity and long term planning? And the coach becomes your scapegoat?

Very best wishes and thank you for all of the time and effort that you have put into this. It has been greatly appreciated by many people.

At least, no matter who we get, we can look across the city and think, oh well it could have been worse.

Replacing the manager in 4th with the manager in 10th would certainly be a leftfield decision.

Polarising the debate is always a political choice. You can try to find common ground and compromise and understanding, or you can reduce it down to one versus the other, and use that as a justification to discriminate and oppress. Timeless.

Complicated subject but well done for reducing it down into something that you can understand.

The "beauty" of the Championship is that it isn't won on budgets. There may be differences between the clubs, but effectively we're all working within fairly similar constraints and the same player pool. Games are won and lost on the pitch. No game is a foregone conclusion and therefore neither are the league positions. This isn't a defence or a criticism of Kris Doolan. I just think anyone expecting success (or failure) in this league purely based on budgets is missing the point.

Well done Thistle. Brilliant to turn it around

Could they not list them in a more logical order? It's a difficult read when three of your back four are listed 8th, 10th and 11th.

Brilliant free kick

😆 Where is Brian Graham now in our all-time scoring charts? Definitely now second top scorer in my 40+ years of watching Thistle. Quite incredible for someone who signed at the age of 32 and lost well over half a season's worth of games due to Covid.

How many times can you say that and still believe it while we keep winning games?

Some of the concerns regarding sustainability I get. But I feel i asked reasonably straight questions on that, and got reasonably straight answers. Your arguments seem to go off in lots of directions and I tend to lose the thread. But when it comes down to it, is this really about structure and responsibility, or is it about you not having faith in the "types" of people currently in key positions? Because if that is the case, it's quite a personal argument and not one I really feel any need to engage with. I'm on the Board of a local housing association. It is accountable to its members, who are also its key stakeholders. It has "serious business people" on the Board (not me). They do it because they believe in it, and want to see it succeed. I'm not saying the situation is the same, but do similar principles not apply?

Thanks for that.

Great. Thanks. If it's okay I have a few follow up questions... Where does TJF get the guaranteed 150k from? Is this a sustainable fund? If closing the gap means trebling TJF commitment (from £200k to 600k?), how would £150k of fan contribution get us to break-even? Is the ability of the club to rely on the financial support of key stakeholders, directors and other benefactors (presumably from outside of TJF) in any way compromised by 60% of the club being owned by TJF?

Okay thanks. My question would be, does TJF envisage itself and its members being capable of raising sufficient funds to keep the club sustainable and competitive, over and above normal "football reated" turnover? Is there currently any detailed understanding of how much money this is likely to be, and how does this compare with what TJF has been able to raise to date?