Sivad

Why? We're in a relegation battle with three teams immediately above us, Alloa, QOS and Morton. These are the 6 pointer matches. Last time we played Queens, we won. Last time at Alloa, we drew. Last time against Morton, we won. All away from home. We play these teams at Firhill in March, great chance to move up the league. We should perhaps be thinking what effect the persistent negativity, regardless of the evidence, might have on everyone connected with the club.

Adverse weather conditions benefit the team that is physically and mentally stronger, and with the greater will to win. Not qualities that have been greatly in evidence at Firhill in recent years. The outcome is what we saw in the first visit to Cappielow last season, against Dundee United last week, and again yesterday. Let's hope the team gets to play with the sun on their backs sooner rather than later.

Sounds like quite a few of tonight's team could find themselves in the first team on Saturday, if they're not careful.

Difficult to assess how significant this victory against unfamiliar opponents will turn out to be. But we can certainly take encouragement from possession football played tonight, denying the opposition the chance to test our defence. Da Vita and Kakay showed enough playing away from their normal positions to add to the options available. Hope none of the fans who turned out to support Thistle tonight loses out to glory hunters in the scramble for tickets when we get to the final.

Lewis Mansell released by Blackburn https://the72.co.uk/131098/blackburn-rovers-announce-retained-and-released-list-fan-reactions/

Falkirk were relegated from the old First Division in 1969, after Thistle drew 2-2 at Brockville on the last day of the season. I remember the Jags fans singing "So long, it's been good to know you". Not so funny the following season, when it was our turn to be relegated, for the first time in the club's history.

At half time last week, the TV commentator remarked that Thistle were "struggling to get their most influential players on the ball". On the park might have been more accurate, with Spittal, Fitzpatrick and Cardle all on the bench. That needs to be remedied today.

Might as well give Sneddon some practice. Celtic won't allow Hazard to play against them in the Cup Final.

Thistle have scored the first goal in all five matches in 2019. Sadly, in all four league matches, we have conceded the last goal.

We're going to have to be stronger - much stronger. All but two of our points have been gained at home. Only six of our remaining fourteen league games are at home, four of them against the top four in the league table, all of whom won on their previous visit to Firhill this season. Indeed, if all our remaining fixtures produce the same result as the first time round, we will gain a further five points, with a total of 24 points, one more than Alloa have already. A 100% improvement would give us ten points and a total of 29, one less than the total that consigned Dumbarton to a doomed play-offs campaign last season. Even a 200% improvement, for 15 and 34, would probably not be enough, given that none of the teams in the bottom half shows any sign of going on a Brechin type run of defeats that would come to our aid. We can only hope that the new recruits will contribute sufficiently to turn things around, starting on Saturday.

Look at the number of Thistle players in the opposition penalty area. A rare sight this season.

Just as well Storey's hit form as a striker.

I'd see it as 5-3-1-1: Elliot Keown Scobbie McGinty Penrice Fitzpatrick Bannigan Spittal Erskine Doolan

Perhaps we should follow the example of another victory one hundred years ago, and ring the church bells throughout the land.

Neil Lennon was at Firhill on Saturday, spotted heading for Jackie Husband hospitality area. The only reason I could think of for why he was there, rather than watching future opponents at one of the premiership games being played, would be to give some encouragement to his former colleague Gary Caldwell. Didn't stop Caldwell from criticising Lennon on the radio last night, for goading Hearts fans. For all the widespread condemnation of events at Tynecastle, I couldn't help thinking we could do with some of that atmosphere at Firhill. The one time the fans had something to shout about on Saturday was when McGinty got into a fight near the dugouts. Perhaps more of that attitude would help dispel the apathy.

Derek McInnes trotted out one of the usual clichés after a 0-0 draw with Hearts last season. "It's never easy to come here and get a result". Trouble is, he was speaking after the first ever Scottish league match at Murrayfield Stadium.

Support for Paul Lambert with Bet Victor today, from 25/1 to 16/1 to 10/1 to 6/1. Still behind Caldwell 1/2, Duffy 2/1, McIntyre 4/1.

Some interesting fluctuations on the Bet Victor website. Yesterday morning they had Jim Duffy as hot favourite, then it went to Jim McIntyre odds on. Latest is Gary Caldwell 1/2, McIntyre 2/1, Duffy 4/1, others 25/1.

In considering applications for the post of Partick Thistle manager, I believe that two areas should be looked at – a positive previous experience at the club, and a degree of success in management. Some of Thistle’s worst managerial disasters have occurred when both these criteria have been ignored, e.g. Derek Johnstone, Sandy Clark, Tommy Bryce. (Pause for shudder). Ian McCall fits the bill, but has understandably ruled himself out. Stephen Craigan has insufficient experience in management at this stage. Jackie McNamara has surely burned his boats. Jim Duffy meets the criteria, but there appears to be a worrying degree of hostility towards him, whether it is because of his departure from Firhill after captaining a promotion winning side, his low level of managerial achievement, or his recent unlamented sacking at Morton. We don’t need an appointment that divides the support before the new person has a chance. Then there’s Danny Lennon. As John Lambie’s captain and leader on the field, Danny Lennon played a major role in Thistle’s near miraculous recovery from a club on the verge of extinction to a place in the Premier League, with successive league titles in 2001 and 2002. Lennon was an inspirational captain, organising and encouraging the players, and contributing 12 goals himself from midfield. History repeated itself at the start of his managerial career with Cowdenbeath, when he achieved back-to-back promotions with an unfashionable side. This led to his appointment as manager at St Mirren, where he was successful in leading the team to a Scottish League Cup triumph, and kept them in the Premier League for several seasons. Lennon was not sacked at St Mirren, they simply declined to renew his contract in 2014, for a perceived failure to meet expectations that he had succeeded in raising to unrealistic levels. The folly of that decision quickly became apparent, with what happened to St Mirren in the next two seasons. Last year he took over as manager at Clyde, a club that was heading for the Lowland League, and currently occupies a play-off place in League 2. Ok, he has been out of the limelight for a few years, which may be why such an obvious candidate has not been widely quoted. But so had Ian McCall when he went to Ayr United, Steve Clarke when he was appointed by Kilmarnock, Claudio Ranieri when he went to Leicester City. We need a manager who is a good fit for Partick Thistle, and can unite the fans behind him. Based on his track record as a player and manager, that man is Danny Lennon.

Nice to see a new midfielder achieve in two minutes what Barton, Osman, Woods and McCarthy failed to manage during the whole of last season - score a goal; then another to show it wasn't a fluke.

For the second successive season, Thistle are required to start both their Betfred Cup and league campaigns away from home against a team that has won promotion in the previous season. Perhaps a mathematician could calculate the odds against that happening. The point being that newly promoted teams have higher than usual motivation to prove their worth at the start of a new season, especially when there is a champions flag to be unfurled by the home team. Hopefully we will enough to get past Stenhousemuir, but it might be as well not to hold high expectations for our team of strangers' visit to Ayr on their gala day. At least the outcome is unlikely to be as bad as the opening day of season 1984-85, when the mighty Forfar Athletic celebrated the hoisting of the second division flag with a 4-0 victory over the Jags, a result that set the tone for the rest of the season, when Thistle finished eleventh of fourteen, five places lower than Forfar.

Cowdenbeath was Craig Levein's first club as both player and manager. Perhaps he wants to give them a bit of encouragement, after they narrowly avoided relegation to the Lowland League for the second season running. Archie also has reason to remember Cowdenbeath fondly. As a new manager, he was heading for his first defeat when the home team led 2-1 in a midweek match with around 15 minutes to go. Then the fog thickened to the point where the match was abandoned. When it was eventually replayed, Thistle won comfortably, allowing Archie to maintain his unbeaten record as a manager in the Championship, which remains the case to this day.

I remember the back streets of Naples Two children, begging in rags Each filled with a burning ambition To come to Glasgow and play for the Jags The Harry Wraggs, the greatest team, you've ever seen ...

Looking for an unlikely hero. One of the features of the last two seasons has been the number of Thistle players contributing at least one goal in the course of the season, to the point where at this time of year we could turn out a team where the outfield players had all scored. Not so this season. For the last few games, the starting eleven has contained only four players who have scored a league goal all season, which increases the pressure on these few. So, for the others in the team, now is a chance to make a name for yourself!

Possibly the least important fixture we've had all season, compared with what is to come. Supporters' buses should be diverted to McDiarmid Park to cheer on St. Johnstone, because that is where our immediate future will be decided. Scully in goal, because we can't afford to lose Cherny. Leave out any player who is carrying a knock or is within one booking of a suspension.