Jaggernaut

If he can emulate what the O'Loughlin fella introduced by ChiThistle above has achived in Belgium, he'll be a superman!

Well, there ain't anybody older. 😎

Agree with much of that. I'd add that the younger players you mention need a run of games to get up to speed and the conditions of the game, not just coming one for 10-20 minutes if they're (un)lucky, with little time to get settled or make a real impact.

Are there any convincing examples of a club that has risen from mediocrity to success and where that sequence is attributable to the appointment of a Sporting Director, with a Head Coach as his side-kick?

I heard it's in the bag.

I'm still not clear about this: is wearethistle.net (i.e., this site) going to disappear?

That is a great piece of work. (Some people have a lot of time on their hands..... and do good stuff!)

How do you know it wasn't the journalist who put that spin on it?

Thank you for that detailed and well-reasoned analysis!

Been thinking about this more and more. Although there were a couple of miserable performances and results, Graham and Wilson did manage to turn around what looked like a ship heading into disaster, and got us into the play-offs. They showed that they could vary the style of play and make substitutions at key points. They even played four youngsters who would probably never have been considered by Doolan (even if necessitated by injuries), which means that we might see more of them next season. Bad luck with injuries left us hampered at the worst time (the play-offs), and yet we came from behind to reach the semi-finals, which was just a bridge too far (against Lavi again, yuck!). I'll be happy if G&W are given the job for at least next season.

Frankly, Lawless has been totally anonymous in all appearances since his return. I feel it's no more than wishful thinking that he'll be as effective as before.

General agreement with all of that. The Barraclough appointment looks to me right now like a crazy, unjustifiable waste of resources.

I think that many of us are relieved that this horrible season is over. Well done to a mediocre squad for getting us this far; same goes to the three managers. But did any of us really believe that this team would be capable of either winning the division or winning the play-offs? I hoped that somehow a miracle might happen, but deep down I knew we simply weren't good enough compared to Falkirk and Livi, and whoever the Premiership team involved will be. This season saw us produce some of the poorest, negative performances I can remember since the Dick Campell era, and several unacceptable results along the way. I'm happy it's over; already looking forward to new faces, a re-charged squad and support. Next season looks like it could be a tougher division, so we need to be prepared. Monra Jags!

Let him go if he wants, if it saves us a wage. Great scoring record. Woeful misses time after time.

Maybe, if you discard the clearly arthritic elements. We're supposed to be a fit and ambitious fitba club, not a retreat/care-home for long-should-be-retired footballers who clearly can't keep up with the pace required.

Surprise, surprise.

Thistle to win 2-0. No goals in extra time. Thistle to lose penalty shoot-out. How does that sound?

Plenty of good points and different perspectives in the above posts. In fact, trying to take them all in means that I'm not yet sure of what I think about the manager(s), our goals for the season ahead, or how we'll shape up in comparison. Maybe at least one or two things will be a bit clearer after tomorrow.... But will this forum still be active then.........(?)

No. Giving us a throw-in is like a gift to the opposition.

Thought I'd mention this: at one point (I think we were goal down) during a passage of sideways and back passing in our own half I started counting, and from then there were another eight passes between defenders and our keeper, with the ball moving not even one inch nearer the Livi half.

I wouldn't be upset if our two co-managers are kept on. They know our strengths and weaknesses better than anyone, aren't afraid to try different things, and managed to get us into the play-off semi-final.

Yes, the better team won; fact. We got very lucky when we beat them a couple of weeks ago, the team then managed to raise their game for the 2nd leg against Ayr, but the overall lack of quality (or at least flair and creativity) was again evident last night. I'm not even angry, but still actually impressed that such a mediocre squad with some truly awful displays and results throughout the season actually put up a fight and got to where they are now. But for next season.... I would not be unhappy if any out of contract players get released ASAP. We need freshness, not more of the same.

Absolutely! And Megwa (to my mind's eye) wins an amazing amount of headers for his size. Hope it continues tonight......

Yeah, that's a good assessment of the situation, I think. Chalmers returning should in theory be a positive, because he can sometimes produce high-impact moments. Turner out can be seen as a loss, but although some people criticize, this means another opportunity for Stanway to show that he is the real deal. Unlike Turner or Bannigan, he has shown recently that he can shoot and score. We need to hope that whoever is in defence (presumably the same as at Ayr) puts in another tight and impermeable performance.

Great anecdote!