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.

Mitchell was ok, never fully convincing hence why he could never hold down the position. Guess who we replace him with will see whether or not he'll be missed but I can't say I'm too sad to see him go.

The whole interview on second viewing just seems odd. This narrative of a fantastic end to the season has been pushed a few times, they must think we're easy pleased. A couple of hard fought wins to get in to the playoffs followed by 1 win in 4 playoff games can hardly be deemed fantastic. I wasn't expecting the interviewer to give Beastall a tough ride but it would have been nice to perhaps push him further on a couple of key points, namely, why our Sporting Director seems to have gone on honeymoon at the most important stage of his role and if this was known prior to him starting, did we have any contingency plans in place for recruitment/player release/pre season etc?

Having watched the Chairman's interview, I can't say I'm full of confidence for the season ahead. Hard to judge on an edited 10 minute video but I think it failed to really clear up any issue around the management selection and our way of improving revenue seems to be the tried and trusted "You're the supporters, get your hands in your pocket please". We've started a lot of backroom staff with the premise of generating more commercial revenue I believe. They'll need to do well to justify adding these costs to the overheads and taking away from the playing pot.

Thanks admin, wishing you all the best. Thanks to all (I think!) posters as well, always been great to read the wide and varied posts.

I thought that was an impressive interview with Mark Wilson (despite the weird question at the end about Clyde SSB). He's an intelligent guy and sounds like he's comfortable with the role and gets on well with Barraclough. I was in full agreement about his comments about the lack of pathway from youth to first team, it has always been an issue for us. The bit about becoming a better coach away from the pressures of the Senior game was interesting and hopefully will have a positive impact on the team. They both now need to get on with the job and show they are the right guys to take us forward. It will be difficult, I still have a lot of reservations about what we're doing off the field and where we seem to be channelling a lot of expenditure but will get right behind the new Head Coach and fingers crossed we're watching some entertaining football at Firhill next season.

If it is Mark Wilson then best of luck to him. I liked the way he carried himself during his temporary stint but it'll be way more of a challenge this season going by our budget cuts etc. I'm not sure I care who knocked us back or who wasn't offered etc etc. Wilson was offered it and feels he can add something as Partick Thistle manager which is a good enough start for me. If Graham decided he wanted to keep playing over taking the management role then good luck to him but it all looks a bit silly after his post Livingston interviews etc.

Selecting a manager with relatively decent championship credentials, who knows the championship well and recruits from that market would suggest our ambitions are remaining as a championship club. I'm not saying anyone on the rumoured shortlist would be any better but I don't think McCabe or Murray would be that great appointments either.

A smaller squad supplemented by youth players is what I’d like to see us run with this season. Finances will most likely dictate that any way but it seems a sensible way to get the most out of our budget. The waste of an improved budget last year on an over inflated first team squad that then required to be slashed should be a reminder of how important recruitment is. It might also finally allow a proper pathway for players from the academy in to the first team squad. Guardiola has stated today that he wants a vastly reduced first team squad supplemented by youth when/if required to cover injuries. I think he mentioned a squad of 21. Obviously we’re not comparable to the squad of Man City (!) but the premise of what he’s trying to do makes sense. Have a smaller, competitive pool to pick from with the chance to bleed in young players. If achievable, some of our in contract players can hopefully be moved on as our squad has lacked balance all season. The new manager needs to be in place asap to decide the way he wants the team to play which in turn will allow the SD to recruit players to suit. This is the bit that slightly worries me, I hope our recruitment is much improved this year.

Whoever is our new manager/coach, I hope next season they can coach our players to pass the ball in front of their team mate, look to go forward with their first touch and get back to some entertaining football. That would already see a marked improvement on this season.

It’s a fair argument. I’d suggest there’s been some mitigating circumstances in some of those losses but undoubtedly the games against Airdrie and Hamilton were nowhere near good enough. We’ve had results like that under every manager I can remember mind you and no doubt will again. It’s a big decision. The Sporting Director might want his own manager in, it’ll be his neck on the line if it goes wrong given how sceptical many are to his appointment in the first place. We might have some far superior candidates than Graham and Wilson, I guess time will tell.