Jaggernaut

Jesus, let's keep signing the same old duds and keep hoping we avoid relegation every year. So what if Rowson is fit and has pace? More often than not he does nothing for us, I would say. McNamara and Donnelly might be able to play a bit, but they offer us nothing that younger players who are just as fit are likely to do. These guys are basically finished, and should be retired asap. There.

Or their real team...... Engerlund.

This whole "unbeaten" thing bemuses me. Three draws might amount to being unbeaten, but such a "run" is worth no more than one win and two defeats. Either of those would amount to collecting only one third of the points up for grabs, something that we're just managing to do by the skin of our teeth. Since the season started we've taken 7 points from a possible 36 away from home. How about this: Ross County hadn't won a single match in 10 attempts before our game against them on Saturday, yet we set out to contain them, rather than attempting seriously to win. And some people are saying that we came away with a decent result..... Is there a head-scratching emoticon?

Is it all that good?

Oh that's right. Sorry! Was too busy ranting to let reality into my world.

That should bring the crowds flocking back. You're right, I think. But that doesn't mean that what we're being subjected to most weeks, and in fact season after season in away matches, should be considered as what Thistle (and the fans) should be aspiring to.

One of the many in this tightly knit community.

Robertson, Rowson, Cairney, Donnelly, and I'd probably now include Grehan, who just doesn't look up to it.

We got 1 point, they got 3.

It seems to me that there are a few heads-in-the-sand perspectives on here. We're a team that's going nowhere in the league, basically out of all competitions, and that still needs to ensure victories to be sure of avoiding the relegation play-off position. I make it 3 victories in our last 12 league matches, and facing the best team in the league on Saturday (so, a nice one to win!), with little sign that we're capable of getting any kind of sequence of wins on the go. For next season I'd get rid of all of the over-30s with the exception of Archie. Cue the "Rowson is fantastic" protests. Is he inspirational? Nah. Does he create openings? Nah. Does he score? Nah. Agreed he's good at running around and tackling guys, but so are many others. Donnelly? If he's retained again as a player next season my heart will truly sink.

We lost further ground to Dundee, who look likely to overtake us soon (in spite of giving us a 25-point start) and our position with regards to Ross County remains exactly the same. Albion and County play each other tomorrow, so one of them may gain 3 points. Cowdenbeath might also pick up at least a point tomorrow. If we lose on Saturday, then it really is a battle to avoid the relegation play-off spot, and my question again is: should we trust the oldies who have got us there in the first place to magically get us out of it? I wouldn't! And how come we can blood a youngster who's on loan from another team and who has no real reason to care about what happens to Thistle, but we shouldn't give our own youngsters a chance?

Remembered another couple of players who impressed yesterday. Big right back (Garry?), and smaller blond left-back, and tall no. 4 (red hair). Also a wee blond guy wearing I think no. 10. Those four looked a bit of a cut above the rest of the outfield players, though nobody looked especially weak. They just lost it a bit in the 2nd half. A few of the East Stirling guys were giants.

In one-to-ones against us this season they are about the same as us. I know what you mean, and the idea that we should even be contemplating whether we are stronger than such teams is deplorable. But our league position and our points total tell the truth.

Except that our precarious league position is precisely due to not playing the youngsters, but instead relying week after week on several so-called first-team squad members who are patently no longer fit for purpose. If we get really into a relegation dog-fight would you bet money on the current first-team to get us out of it? I certainly wouldn't.

Don't want to watch.

East Stirlingshire 1 - Thistle 3 Thistle were 2-0 up at half-time, two good goals coming from some slick passing down the left flank. In fact there was a lot of good movement off the ball and fast passing in the first half. But that all seemed to collapse when the 2nd half started, and E.S. started to look the much better team. They deservedly pulled one back, and were still dominating when Thistle's 3rd arrived - some controversy about whether the Jags player kicked it out of the keeper's hands or not. But the goal was given, and the rest of the game more or less fizzled out. In fact the women's hockey match next door was starting to attract more attention from the crowd. Don't know the players' names, but the Thistle keeper was excellent, with several good saves in both halves, and good kick-outs and throws. Unprotected for the goal. I think the Stirling Uni. artificial pitch is supposed to be one of the best around, but even so I certainly wouldn't fancy sliding into a tackle on it, and neither did most of the players, it looked like.

McCall still greetin': http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/sfl/2011/02/27/sfl-ross-county-0-partick-th-0-86908-22953470/ Maybe if he tried attacking for once then he wouldn't have to keep praising the defenders and the keeper.

Some excellent photies.

Another bummer of a performance yesterday.

I think they're mingin' for our strip. Excellent photies. How on earth did Willie-K end up with his shorts down at his ankles here????: :lol: http://jimwilson309.fotopic.net/p69205588.html

Points taken. But if having the third lowest budget means that we should simply expect to end up in third bottom place then we all might as well give up before things even start, as nothing is to be hoped for other than your rank in terms of budget. But in fact I believe that some of our players could do better than they are allowed to do under McCall's tactics. The guy who wrote the report for the Ross County site got it right: time after time McCall sets out to kill the game, rather than to win. Now he must see that with an absolutely dreadful away record since he took over at Firhill that his approach will lead us to nowhere other than (if we're lucky) avoiding relegation. But he doesn't change it. Why on earth play a loanee youngster yesterday rather than one of our own youngsters? Why fill the team up again with end-of-career guys with nothing to play for? Why start out with 5 strung along in front of the defenders against a team that haven't won in their last 3 matches (and hadn't scored in their last 2)? I can accept that we don't have the money that other clubs do (or don't), but all I can say is that for the first time ever I'm no longer looking forward to following Thistle away from Firhill, and that's because of the predictability and negativity of their performances under McCall.

I think you're making precisely my point: this result is just as disappointing as the rest of the season. Let's imagine that we lose our next three games, and then pick up another draw away from home. Should that then be considered as a satisfactory point, because the team is basically poor? I don't think so. At the moment I wouldn't be surprised if we just scrape our way above the relegation play-off, and I wouldn't even be surprised if we end up in it. And the main reason for that is our inept attacking abilities. The defense seems on the whole pretty good, but the midfield creates very little, and what passes as our strikers are frankly not looking up to the required standard. Without a couple of much more impressive players in those positions, I don't see how we could hope for much better next season.

I liked that report and the attempt to tie it in with photos. Got sore eyes with all the green and red and yellow lines all over the place, though! What's with the boggin' white socks, Thistle?

Capacity is given as 3,808 (seated: 2,508). That means 1,300 standing, and as both end terracings look identical, that means 650 standing places at each end.

Six wins in 21 league games. F*ckin' grim.