Cork Jag

Bit random, but on holiday in Lanzarote and watching BBC News North England version is on before i head out. They covered few teams including interview with Alex Neil at Sunderland then concluded with transfer news at Hartlepool, which consisted of Sena’s big signing and him with the usual smiles and scarf above the head. Good luck to him, fame at last.

Came over from Ireland for my first game since we were in the Premier. Today was my daughters first ever game and had my son excited to go back. Been following the team closely mainly through this site tbh so wasnt expecting much but… what a culture shock Ground looks like a dump, Main Stand has really gone to bits. Behind the goals let fall away. No programmes to commemorate her first game but all that secondary to the team! We were really poor. Defence okay apart from McKenna Midfield wee and anonymous (though Bannigan still class). Poor Tiffoney. Marked out the game and trying keep the ball from bouncing away on a shocking pitch. 10 minutes to go and I’m happy to take the point as I could sense what was coming. Walking away my son says “how often have we walked down this street sad and angry!” Ah well, an hour later I’d mellowed, “I’d still rather support a team that breaks my heart than either of the scummy Old Firm” Was proud he agreed, and at least were less crap than we were. Onwards and upwards to next season I hope….

I kind of feel bad for the guy being outed and shamed so publicly for making a bad decision.....choosing to support one of the 2 cheeks.

Was just about to post that as the old song goes we’re worse than East Fife hello. Need change that to as bad as East Fife hello. Be nice say goodbye to that management team.

Wouldn’t apply to Thistle though as we couldn’t be an orange or a green (mint) yo-yo.

That’s certainly a more positive way to look at things. We have always seemed to be too big for the lower leagues and too small for the top one. We’ve certainly done better than those teams you list. However, I don’t see the question as an attack on us or what we’ve achieved, more just trying to understand the mystery of the success of a few teams that have managed to stay up there so long in the hope we can one day replicate it. Motherwell as has been said have ridden their luck with league changes a few times ( though if it had been us V Rangers in the season they sank to the play offs we’d have collapsed and not won comfortably like they did under that pressure, which adds to the mystery of how they deliver at that level). Hamilton over the last 2 decades have had remarkable success ( for all the negatives we could throw at them for style of play and plastic pitches). Got be something in the comments above about strength and stability in the Board room (though thinking of Killie and Motherwell I’m not so sure). Like many I’ve always enjoyed watching Thistle most when they were challenging in the Championship and going well, rather than up in the SPL. Got say though I’ve seen more seasons when they were struggling just stay in the 2nd tier and given our history of as allyo says “bungeeing”, to me getting up to the SPL and staying there long term is more about keeping us safe and healthy and solvent and out of League One, rather than pushing for Europa league qualification or Cup wins or any of those large dreams.

Some great thoughts and thanks to all. I think Laukat hit the nail in terms of us doing better when we’ve had strong board leadership and if we’d avoided sentimentality over managers. I know money is very important and while Colin Weirs money didn’t go on the first team it did leave more budget for it with not having to divert from first team funds to fund youth. So for a short while we may have had an advantage over the likes of Motherwell. Then again United, Hibs and Hearts have all squandered fortunes and been down here. So I think there’s a lot of truth in the point made about teams expectations as that can force poor decision making, whether over budgets, hasty signings or sackings and appointments. I think the choice over managers has been key for some clubs. Motherwell rarely makes mistakes. Even when Butcher was there he’s had a good spell. Who’d even heard of Steve Robinson? St Johnstone are desperately poor to watch but Tommy Wright works wonders. Killie haven’t had a great season this year but Clarke last year. Of course whoever you appoint is always a gamble as we’ve sadly learned the hard way. I really felt that in our last spell and while under Beattie I’d never felt the club to be more stable and having a better chance to establish ourselves for the long term. I almost think the top 6 achievement was bad as there was only one way to go and we were ahead of plan. Just seemed to turn to crap so quickly. Anyway that’s history now and no point dwelling just love us to find the right long term solutions. McCall in the dug out is a good start. Lets hope we can start to get the rest right across this season.

Just been wondering (and not for the first time), why do some teams, us being the one I care about, but Dundee, Ross County, St. Mirren , Inverness and a couple of others, bounce up and down from the top flight, while others of similar size (St Johnstone, Motherwell and Kilmarnock) remain there for a decade or more ? What do they have we miss ?

Wow that brought back memories. I remember that game now from the Gerry Collins hiding in the stand incident. If only he’d stayed there ! Chic playing a pass while walking, Nelson, Law, Craig and English. Bobby Williamson for them who was dirtiest b ever with the elbows. Thanks for posting

Yeh I hadn’t kept track of him and thought he was still at AFC Wimbledon so when I checked on Wikipedia and saw the goals scored and realized Charlton also went up through play offs £4m being turned down isn’t unreasonable. One of few loan forward successes I personally remember on loan from England. Others it got me thinking about were Colin West and Billy Dodds from Chelsea during the grim Ken Bates era in the 80s but now I’m just showing my age.

Watching sky sports news and reporting that Charlton turned down a bid of £4m for Taylor. Always thought he was class but shows money swirling around in England!

Does look like the wheels are coming off

Putting transfer dealings on hold is one thing but no bus is another level of worry. Really hope that was a one off but that's embarrassing and hardly very professional or motivating for the team.

I remember leaving from the Station Bar. Was a long enough bus trip but the sheer excitement of Thistle in Europe and mixing with lots of Jags fanatics on the bus made it pass quickly. Metz was a nice looking wee place, not that much sightseeing was done. The march to the ground was great. The game was awful. I have to say I missed quite a lot of the afters passed out back in the room from too much bevy. Next day there was stories of the team having been in the bar downstairs and Steve Pitman falling out with a few fans giving him a hard time. Not sure if true, but if it was they must have been a bit over confident from the swally as Pitman was quite a tough guy. Thinking back to that team there were a few heid the baws in it. Hard to believe it was so long ago but yet again when I've seen photos surface on facebook there's a lot of folk (including myself) who were a lot younger looking and less bald and portly back then.

I'm living away from Glasgow now and haven't seen us this season so I've probably no right to comment. However, I read this forum several times a day and one thing is clear, this is so dire and it's showing little chance of turning. We're going run out of games. If he doesn't win the next two games and in particular the QoS game he needs to go. The board will drag their heels because of the financial implications so the only option is a noisy protest outside Firhill to wake them up. Even then I'm not confident of change but the scary thing is the feeling of helplessness as we slip towards what could be years in the third tier. The only facts that matter are wins. When we don't win it needs to be the number of attempts on target. None of that is happening. Over the years I've seen miraculous escapes by the likes of Bertie Auld and John Lambie. In 4 weeks with time ticking is Caldwell going turn us round? Those guys knew what they were doing. If i performed like he's done against key metrics in the first few month of a new job id be exited by failing a probation. We need someone to come in and give the team a lift and the fans hope. When people give up and stop caring that's when real decay sets in and right now everyone is very despondent and feeling helpless. He needs to go.