Harrybriscoe

Sincerely, good luck guys. I hope you're quids in come Saturday night!

I was bang in line with play at the game , and to be honest, I was fully expecting the linesman to raise his flags as soon as Zanatta touched the ball. But looking at the video he is certainly onside when the ball is played forward so both I and the linesman got it wrong. However, even if he got it wrong, I could more easily accept it as part and parcel of the game if he had flagged straight away, but he let the play go on, and in those circumstances I think the referee's decision to give a penalty comes in to play and no way should the linesman be able to call it back. Hope he's 'rested' for a suitable period to give him a chance to sharpen his decision making. Could be a costly error for us this season.

Laukat's positive posting above has given me a glint of optimism in an otherwise gloomy outlook. So, this Saturday I'll be digging out my old battle scarred scarf from the wardrobe, vacating the NS, and heading back to my old season ticket seat in the JH. The season starts here! It's all to play for and the team better be up for it.

We need to face reality. This team are absolutely awful and I can't see us pulling up from our nosedive down to the lower leagues unless we cut out the dross from our current set up. The defending at that second goal was pub team level at best. Why do we employ two assistant coaches and a goalkeeper coach if that is the standard of work we produce. They should hang their heads in shame. O'Ware seems to have conned many folk into thinking he's a player.

If MCall doesn't rate Sneddon, and it would appear he doesn't, then why wasn't a strong keeper a priority in the transfer window? I just feel we're going to concede at every corner now!

How many times do we see Fox diving the wrong way at penalties? Just stand your ground and make the penalty taker work for gawds sake. Diving early means my 3 yr old could put it away!

A new keeper is essential in my opinion.

I too would have been offended if you suggested that my guest at a game should move to another seat. The biggest disappointment for me is that my club insists that I give up my season ticket seat when the Old Firm visit. Small club mentality. I have a mate and he supports Rangers and his son follows Ayr. I've had them at Firhill and they've returned the hospitality down at Ayr and we've never had a problem. Why does a guy celebrating a goal for his team upset you so much? It's only a game of fitba'. It's a sad world when you can't go to a game with your mate. On occasion I've found myself instinctively applauding a fantastic piece of skill from an opposing player. Maybe I should move to the away end for my crime.

Those highlights were horrendous to watch. We're painstakingly slow to assess and react to teams coming at us with pace. The first goal from the corner should be the keeper's ball all day long. Foxy must learn to come for cross balls. O'Ware still fails to impress me and looked as though he was wearing concrete boots. Gawd help us next weekend.

Couldn't make the game today but good to hear of some great performances, a better attitude all round, and some sublime passes from Gary Hankins. Can some confirm this for me...or did I just have a bad dream, but didn't Gary Harkins come to Firhill a number of years back in a Dundee team that played us off the park with some of the best football I've seen at Firhill. IIRC it was something like 0-4 before the game was abandoned, for snow I think, or did that never happen?

I couldn't believe that score today. Saw we were down 1-0 as I trooped round Canterbury. Felt a bit dejected and we headed for a pint. One pint of Doom Bar later and I was checking to see if my beer was cloudy as I thought I was hallucinating when I clocked the score at 1-2. Could not believe it! Cue celebratory jig much to the bemusement of the locals. This team never fail to surprise one way or another. Well done lads!

What a moron O'Ware is. Mistakes happen, but to get yourself sent off in the process is just plain dumb. Might as well head home a half time. No forget that, 3-0 so I'm off! What a bunch of losers this group of players are.

Cole's goal on Saturday came from a punt up the park from our defence. Nothing wrong with that when appropriate, but it's hardly silky football and would normally be dealt with by a more experienced defence than Penicuik's . Millers chance v Alloa came from a fortuitous break of the ball. I can't recall how Slater found himself room for a shot on goal, but neither do I recall a passing movement from us creating the opportunity. The point I was trying to make was that I rarely see any play from Thistle that's obviously been worked on in training providing rewards. In the move from Alloa that I admired, the midfield player didn’t have to look up for his team mate, he knew exactly where the guy would be and put the ball on a plate.

I wouldn't say a goalkeeper was my main concern just now, but no doubt Alloa went away with a point last night thanks to a solid performance from their keeper, Jamie McDonald. His save from Reece Cole's free kick was a stunner. Our biggest problems lie elsewhere. I found myself instinctively applauding an attempt on goal by Alloa last night. They picked a loose ball in their half and cut through our midfield and defence with two passes, ending with a strike on goal that just whistled past the post. We never do that! Our play is ponderous and predictable with the ball usually played across the park and out to the wing for a punt into the box if we're lucky. When we do find a bit of space someone will go on a run, usually Penrice, Zanatta or Cardle but the final ball is usually non existent or just abysmal. What was Cardle playing at last night? He's an experienced player, yet often when he gets in a promising position, he hesitates too long or skys the ball out of play. Zanatta has pace but is otherwise clueless about beating a defender and invariably loses any 50/50 tussles once tackled. His tactic then is usually just to fall down. His scream last night as he fell in the box from a knock on the leg was just embarrassing. Seconds later he was running around like a whippet. Not my kind of player at all. We should have won that game last night.

No lack of effort in that half. Two glorious chances missed which could have seen us go in 3-1 up which would have been fair on the balance of play. Why Slater blasted it straight at the keeper from 10yds totally baffles me. On a wet pitch like this a wee shimmy and a toe poke in the corner would have left McDonald helpless. Somehow we have to get this team to believe in themselves and try to show more flair instead of doing the expected ball every time. Still, confident we can win this.

Still feeling totally scunnered after that performance v Ayr and this thread is just adding to the pain. Morton, Alloa, Penifriggincuik and Stenhousemuir should be four wins., no ifs, no buts. How this team has lowered our expectations!

I can't bear to watch any 'highlights' from that game yesterday. Feeling totally down this morning after that horror show. A lasting image from the game that sticks in my head, as I was making for the exit, was James Penrice firing in a decent cross at pace which went nowhere near Mansell, the only player we had in the box. I've seen this so often from Thistle players over the years. I'm convinced they lump it into the box without even looking! In complete contrast to Ayr, who attacked in numbers with options left and right which had our defenders spinning on their heels. Lady luck was on our side yesterday keeping the Ayr goal tally at just four.

Just when you think it cannae get any worse we have a perfect illustration of why we're down 4-0. Banzo loses it doing his wee pointless passes, Ayr rush up field in numbers and it's in the pokey before you know it. They're miles better than us.

And there we have a perfect example of what I mean. We are a shambles of a team.

It's like taking sweets aff a wean beating Thistle these days. Ayr look faster and more up for the game. When they go forward you can see team mates run in to space in a way that suggests it's been discussed pre match. On the other hand we can look lethargic in defence and clueless up front. The target has to be just to survive this season once we punt some of the imposters in January.

Even though we're still bottom of the league. Imagine how good that feeling would be if we could put a run together and get in to that top four. Fingers crossed.

Every Sunday morning should feel like this. What a difference an away win makes. Not just the win, but the way in which it was achieved will linger long in the memory. I would love to have been a fly on the wall in the Jags dressing room at half time. Something occurred or was said that had every player out on the pitch early and champing at the bit to get at Dundee. The last 10 mins should go down in Thistle folklore. We had a little taster served up when Gary Harkins bulleted a header off the outside of the Dundee post and we knew we could do this. Then the party began with a sublime finish from Kenny, firing home a wonderful Williamson cut back that sent us into raptures as we thought we had a salvaged a precious point. He may be a moany face diva at times but the boy can finish. Fearing our old habit of immediately losing a goal in reply, I feared the worst, but a stunning save from Foxy when he somehow got down at his right hand post to save a goal bound header was crucial to the result. If he hadn't made that save the heads may have went down, but instead it boosted the desire within the team to go on and win. Just a few minutes later, Gordon homes in on the Dundee goal from the right wing and directs a shot across and beyond the Dundee keeper into the net. Well, thankfully my screams of delight couldn't be heard above the screams of our young camera lady. The Dee fans to our left were leaving like there was a bad smell in the stand... a wonderful sight. When Mansell broke away in the 91st minute and somehow coerced the ball to cross the line, in what felt like slow motion, I though I was just gonna burst. Well, that was my day out. As I said earlier it's what keeps you going week in week out. Well done to all the team and the management ... and the fans.

....and that's why we feel compelled to follow the Jags week in week out. Hope we can reproduce that second half attitude for the rest of the season.

Enjoyed the highlights, but I was more fascinated by the English translation from Youtube when I switched on subtitles!

Looking forward to this. Could this be the day we turn the corner? Good squad to pick from so if the players can just get Caldwell's style of play out their system I'm hoping for a least a point. Crucial we don't lose an early goal or the heads might go down. A wee bit of drizzle has put a bit of zip in the pitch, so let's get at 'em Jags!