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ThickAsThieves

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Posts posted by ThickAsThieves

  1. 1 hour ago, Garscube Road End said:

    My mate is a registered referee. When we saw the Arbroath game abandoned due to high winds he commented that if the wind either blew back towards a keeper into his hands or the goal it should be given as a corner kick .

    Pretty sure that’s only the case for goal kicks - not for today’s scenario where the ball was in play.

    The result is the only thing that matters in the cup, so I’m delighted. A home draw against anyone outside of Celtic/Rangers if they progress, please. If it’s an away tie then I wouldn’t mind Hibernian, they’ll have a fairly new manager at that point and who knows what they’ll be like. Or Inverness CT away.

  2. 1 hour ago, Gary Peebles Tackle said:

    Sounds promising!

    Is it just me or do we look like having a much better squad than last season?  No guarantees, but genuinely don’t think we should be worried about relegation... 

    Yeah, if Ntambwe works out, we've finally got decent options again. 

    Bell

    Elliott - O'Ware - McGinty - Melbourne

    Ntambwe - Penrice

    Fitzpatrick - Slater - Mbuyi-Mutombo

    Coulibaly

    Sneddon, Keown, Gordon, Storer, Erskine, Storey, Doolan.

    Lennox, McCarthy, Bannigan (?), Spittal, Wilson.

  3. 7 minutes ago, javeajag said:

    One defender to go and that’s that ! 

    Being greedy, I’d like two.  A right-back and a centre-back. Keown to sign reduced terms too!

    edit: suppose that RB/CB could be the one player signed for cover in both roles.

  4. Very comfortable, Stranraer were pish. Most pleasing thing tonight was how often our wingers were willing to take defenders on.

    Penrice played well in the middle and Fitzpatrick was class. New boy did well, just a shame Doolan couldn’t get a goal, feel like he needs it. 

    Sneddon made a very good save in the first half and was very vocal. Think we’ve got a decent back up there. 

    • Like 3
  5. I know our window closes on 31 August but the plan should always be to try to complete our business as close to the opening league game of the season as possible. If one or two drag on past that - and maybe even towards the 31st - then fair enough, but to actually plan to do our business by the 31st is ridiculous. 

  6. Bell, O'Ware, Slater, Storey, Doolan. They're the only players I'm thinking are good enough to start in a play-off challenging side. Maybe Elliott. Either way we're at least 5/6 players away.

    Penrice - for all he's been praised by fans of East Fife and Livingston, who by the way were praising him for performances in central midfield/defence - does not look the answer at left-back. Let's hope Melbourne is. That wasn't a great start to his Thistle career but he's not a right-back. 

    McGinty does look poor. Would prefer Keown but can understand Archie's reticence to play him right now. A new central defender is essential.

    Gordon has not been good enough so far, he's too young/inexperienced to be relying on as a starter anyway.

    Spittal has picked up where he left off last season, games are just passing him by.

    Erskine is in a real slump. Hope it's just temporary.

    Worrying.

  7. 31 minutes ago, Dick Dastardly said:

    If we got a rightback, a holding midfielder and a striker (plus a replacement for Keown if he leaves) then that will probably be it. We would then have a solid core, plus enough versatility and youths to fill in in emergencies. We are a Scottish Championship club. We need to be realistic.

    If we have realistic ambitions of promotion then we would still need a winger/attacking midfielder, for me.

    Looking at it purely in terms of numbers, we have just four first team players in Erskine/Spittal/Storer/Storey to play in those three positions, supplemented by Fitzpatrick and Wilson. We'd need at least one more for the sake of competition. 

    Looking at these players from a quality point of view, I'd say there are now question marks over Erskine's effectiveness and whether he can be relied upon for a full season. Spittal has so far failed to live up to his early promise, Storer is an unknown quantity and Storey is a striker who's been converted into a winger. 

    At least one more quality addition is needed. I noticed St. Mirren turned down the chance to sign Chris Humphrey, would he be a good option at this level? Andy Driver is also without a club - with St. Johnstone turning him down - although I expect his expected wage would far exceed what we could offer.

  8. 1 minute ago, Alan Murray said:

    Banzo will sign some sort of pay as you play deal. Archie would not be talking about him being back in training next week if he was going to release him. His contract is up. 

     

    His contract is up at the end of August I’m sure, so we still have a month to see how his fitness goes. Just wondering what the likelihood of him staying is.

  9. Won’t be able to make it today, but wondering if you are going to the Q&A - what questions will you be asking? Here are a few for inspiration.

    1. What’s the update with Niall Keown? Does he look likely to sign a reduced terms deal?

    2. Why have we - unlike our main rivals Ross County and Dundee United - once again left our squad short going into the season? 

    3. What will be different tactically to last season? What formation will we favour? 

    4. With Bannigan injuring his knee again, will he now be freed or is a pay-as-you-play deal an option?

    5. What does our current scouting network look like? 

  10. Slater was good, crazy decision to take him off. Storey looked threatening and Fitzpatrick was positive when he came on. Elliott did well but again his final ball let him down. 

    Do share the same concerns about Erskine and Doolan that I’ve seen mentioned here. Can’t fault Erskine’s effort but he’s not really putting in quality performances these days. I think Doolan goes missing now when he’s a lone striker - much prefer him up alongside someone. 

    I’d be tempted to go 3-5-2 against Ayr next week....

    Bell

    O’Ware - Penrice - McGinty

    Elliott - Spittal - Slater - McCarthy/Gordon - Melbourne

    Doolan - Storey

  11. 1 hour ago, lady-isobel-barnett said:

    Last game I was at there was the drawn Cup game about 13 or 14 years back. Maybe  the  last time we played them in Coatbrig? That was back in the Campbell era and the first of 7 Scottish Cup games that season.

    Heard the pitch is atrocious so I'd sacrifice a good performance for a winning one with nobody getting injured.

    We won that match, the draw was at Firhill. 

    My first and only visit to Cliftonhill, but might go tomorrow.

  12. Think it’s fairly obvious he’s having a go at Abdul Osman there. An initially great signing who captained the side to a top six finish and then decided that his #itsnoteasy range was more important to him that Thistle, when we needed him most. Don’t know how you can’t see that.

    • Like 1
  13. On 6/26/2018 at 9:43 AM, ThickAsThieves said:

    If Keown, Barton and Storey all stay, and including the young players that remain on the Development Squad on the website, then I’d imagine we’d be looking for between 4-7 new signings. Obviously if they leave then 7-10. 

    GK: Bell, Lennox, Sneddon, Stevenson. 0 MORE

    RB/LB: Elliott, Penrice, Duncanson. 1 MORE

    CB: O’Ware, McGinty, Keown, Barton. 0 MORE

    CM: McCarthy, Bannigan, Eadie. 1 OR 2 MORE

    W/AM: Erskine, Spittal, Fitzpatrick, Wilson. 2 MORE

    ST: Doolan, Storey, 0 OR 1 MORE

    Updated:

    GK: Bell, Lennox, Sneddon, Stevenson. 0 MORE

    RB/LB: Elliott, Penrice, Duncanson. 1 MORE

    CB: O’Ware, McGinty, Keown, Barton. 0 MORE

    CM: McCarthy, Bannigan, Slater, Gordon, Eadie. 0 MORE

    W/AM: Erskine, Spittal, Fitzpatrick, Wilson. 2 MORE

    ST: Doolan, Storey, Storer. 0 MORE

     

    3 more but if any of the 'available 3' go then they'd need replaced too. Not bad.

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