Jaggernaut

What I'm hoping for is that the players that we definitely want to stay on will be offered contracts right away, rather than have them hanging on with no salary over the summer. The latter scenario would surely see us lose them.

You must be extremely knowledgeable about the electorate. Did you predict the results of the Scottish election earlier this week?

It would be the ultimate irony, wouldn't it, if the UK, always among the first to promote independence for just about every other state that has wanted to regain independence (e.g., the ex Soviet countries, the ex Yugoslav countries), actually tried to block the Scottish people from asserting their will for independence (if that's what indeed the people voted for). And don't forget, the Scottish people never voted for the union, a fact which many people conveniently forget or choose to ignore.

Great stuff! Stewart really placed his shot well.

Fix!

An excellent season from Kris, not just for the goals tally but also for overall tireless work on the park even when the goals don't come. Looking forward to seeing him in action again next season.

For unbridled emotion, gotta be Rowser's goal today.

Glad to see that Doolan got some kind of recognition, even if it is just for the minor achievement of being the league's top goal scorer!!!

Did you really throw up some grass to determine which way the wind was blowing?

Leaving the game yesterday feeling good about Thistle, saw a wee fellah (8 or 9, I guess) tearful and panicky because he'd been separated from his dad. Calmed him down a bit and told him not to worry, that we'd get him reunited. As we headed for a couple of stewards, the wee lad was clearly worried and verging on tears again, so to distract him I asked him if he'd enjoyed the game. He immediately beamed the biggest smile you could imagine, and asked whether the third goal was from outside the box. I told him I reckoned over 20 yards from goal. He said he missed it, but saw the penalty. His enthusiasm for the Jags was absolutely clear to see and infectious; great wee guy. I left him with the stewards, who I'm sure got him reunited with his dad and his pal. With youngsters of that age already that keen on Thistle, we will thrive and prosper in future.

One of those moments that couldn't have been scripted any better. And one that I'll remember for a long time.

That bugged me as well, as there was some excellent singing going on in the JH stand.

Excellent photies. Nice of your grandad to give you a wave in this one: http://sports.webshots.com/photo/2198523740105401695PKKcAT

Excellent summary of the situation.

Gotta grin every half-time when the announcement gets made that the 2nd ticket is for a "mystery prize" and there's a massive "It's a ball." from the JH stand.

Excellent set of photies! Feeling good after seeing those.

Pretty much full agreement from me. A couple of additional comments. Scully had one quite good save from a cross/shot in the first half, and took a couple of crosses really well. I was quite impressed by his kicking. Jamie Campbell got better in the 2nd half. Overall, he did well in what doesn't seem to be his natural position. Great to see him get to the byline a couple of times and put in good crosses, one aspect that we almost never see from Paton. Balatoni was excellent. I'd be delighted to see him with us again next season. Tommy Stewart reminds me of Mark Roberts, but harder. Hope we keep him. Erskine: Entertainment personified. Doolan: Never stops. I was thinking that it's strange that there were few calls for him to be Player of the Year, yet here he is at the top of the goalscoring charts! Rowser: Absolutely tremendous strike, and what a fitting end to the game! McNamara: He deserves the position as much as anybody. There's certainly no point in bringing in one of the journeymen managers that have been given their jotters at several previous clubs. Jackie knows the players we have, he'll already know the kind of player he'd like to bring in, and with a couple of breaks he could have had a great run of results in his short time in charge. Edited to add: Cairney had an excellent first half. He definitely seems to be getting back to his normal self.

Great golfer and character. RIP.

Some good points there. Actually, I think that Scotland's disillusionment with Labour really started to grow when Blair changed the Labour Party into something very like the Tory party, and they've shown no real desire to change that.

You mean those that haven't already emigrated! The "benefits" of the union have been so great that throughout the last century tens if not hundreds of thousands of Scots have decided that they'd be better off elsewhere! It's not going to be simple to stop that long-established rot, but hopefully the new government can continue to make Scots more proud of their country and forge a better society.

My views too. I'd definitely like us to sign Stewart. Then I'd like to see some new faces.

I doesn't have to be exactly the same, but something along those lines would be worth trying.

For me the 3-2 win at Falkirk a few weeks ago. But the most significant (and positive) event was probably the signing of Scott Fox.

It's not on to try to explain all of the massive swings from Labour to the SNP by saying that it's Lib Dem voters who defected. The landslide is simply too massive. Glasgow is a case in point. What is clear is that in spite of all the hand wringing and greetin' when the SNP won last time, they've shown that Scotland can deal competently with its own affairs, and that it can take the course of action that it sees fit, and that will be appreciated by voters. The SNP are making no attempt to hide the fact that there are tough times ahead, but the fact is that the people have heard how they plan to tackle the crises and they've mostly liked what they heard, even the sacrifices (e.g. pay freeze) that have been proposed are accepted. Business leaders also like what the SNP says and have been doing. Not everybody is happy of course; it's never the case that everybody is, and even though Salmond has come in for criticism both here and in England (over the release of the supposed Lockerbie bomber, for example), people appreciate the way he stands up for his principles. The SNP government, unlike the unionist (apologies for) politicians, don't need first of all to be subservient to their masters in London. I honestly believe that the flying visits (hurry up and let's get away) by the Westminster masters of the three unionist parties swayed many people away from those parties towards the SNP, as disillusionment with the whole idea of union (which the Scottish people never voted for) continues to grow, and rightly so IMO.