King Kenny

It'll be interesting to see who/if we bring anyone in for central midfield. Turner will be back soon enough but it would be nice to see him played further forward. Martin will be out until next year and realistically won't be up to speed for a while after that. Crawford, Stanway and Mackenzie as our current available central midfielders isn't going to be good enough. McBeth could be moved up but he's excellent at the back. Keen to see how we line up. Three at the back certainly plays to a few of our players strengths but not so much our four wingers although given Lawless age/injury he might play a more central role now. Glad it is Wilson who needs to come up with a plan and not me!

I like it, looks smart.

It seems to rumble on because for the last 3 or 4 days he's been in the media talking about it. It's boring now to be honest. He was offered the job, he knocked it back which he is perfectly entitled to do and he's now moved on. He's got a good move to a Premier team and we've got an interesting management team in place. No hard feelings on either side, time to move on and look forward to a new season.

Fair enough article and the draw of playing at the top level whilst giving him more family time must be very appealing. Agree that it’s odd to comment on it being a “head coach” role, that was very obvious that was the role for months. He did also add numerous punditry roles etc to his busy day job so can’t put all the blame at Thistle’s door for that one! Time to move on, we got good service out of Graham and he did well out of Thistle. Good luck to him, I’ve a feeling we might end up happy with how Mark Wilson does.

Well he certainly speaks better as a coach than a pundit! I enjoyed that interview, thought he spoke very well. Maybe he’s the man to get our midfield finally moving forward!

I'm not really a fan of Alex Rae, he was always the pantomime villain during his playing days but he just came across as a bit of an idiot (for want of a better word) with some of his punditry. No real issue with Wilson picking him, he obviously trusts him and with all the teams Rae has been involved with he must have some decent credentials as a coach. He has played at a very high level (as has Wilson) which should obviously help when it comes to knowing the standards required in training etc. It also probably won't hurt to have a bit of a nastier streak on the side line either. Best of luck to them both.

Wasn't much between Bud and Mitchell last year. I guess his age leaves plenty of room for improvement and won't have taken up too much on the wage front. Interesting to see he mentions coming back to work with Kenny Arthur, he must be staying after all (again!)

I’d have kept Bannigan based on how he played last year which was better than any of our other midfielders. It’ll be interesting to see who we get in to replace him, our problematic midfield of last season is needing lots of improvement.

The usual negative views from some Ayr fans on P&B about his ability. Got a text from an Ayr supporting mate to say that he was sorry to see him go. Can't say he stood out much for better or worse in our games against them but he's been the starting left back for a team that has finished in the Playoffs the last few seasons so must have something about him. Happy enough with that signing, it's a position that needed filled and has been with an experienced championship defender. A good start 🙂

The way it ended is not something we’d have probably foreseen a few weeks ago but he’s gone now and leaves after a very successful Thistle career. We’ll probably not know the full reasons why he didn’t stay and/or take the manager’s role and I can’t say I’m that fussed. He’s essentially been doing three jobs over the last 6 months, perhaps the chance to just be a player again in a higher league with a manager he likes and a bigger wage was a good opportunity to get a better family life/work split again for a while. We really could do with a few decent signings in the door early next week, just to buck the trend of negative news coming out of Firhill just now.

Graham signs for Falkirk.

Noticed Zak Rudden left Queens Park for Livingston. A good move for him but can't say I saw anything in him that showed he could play a league up. Michael Ruth, who I believe was linked with us, has signed on at Lesser Hampden as well.

I feel for Mark Wilson, think he'll have his work cut out.

I'm not in TJF but I saw the email on another forum and thought it asked a lot of the right questions. The statement from the Board isn't great and if anything, adds some weight to the concerns brought up by the Foundation. Nothing is ever simple at Thistle, a real disconnect currently and hopefully not more off field issues. I'm a season ticket holder and usually renew on the day they come back on sale. I've not got round to it so far (I will) but I can't say things at the club are currently making me rush to part with my money.

No real surprises. Our biggest issue last season was how imbalanced our midfield was. Nobody could really drive forward with the ball meaning we always played it wide. At his best it was something Turner could do but he was poor last year and is now injured for the start of the season. Early days but its a bit concerning our squad could essentially be the same midfield next season as the one who misfired last year.