Just In....11 Hours Ago!

[cyprusjag]

Don't think Stevenson is a good fit for this team.Think there might be an attitude problem.Have we ever won a televised game ?Even though we were all over them in the first half we hardly troubled their keeper.The football we played last season was more exciting and worth watching.

[The Devil's Point]

I was so exhausted at the game last night that it was a real struggle just to get there and stay awake through it.

 

But I actually thought we played some really good stuff in the first half, and the first half was very entertaining.

 

Not sure what happened after the interval, perhaps the players had been staying up all night watching the referendum?

 

Highly unlikely I know.

[dougie247]

As the team drifts from what McCall gathered and then Ratnamara built on.. You have to ask what has Archie actually brought to the table.. Same tactics Mcnamara used with a brilliant championship team got us promoted.. some lucky signings and same tactics employed again last season kept us up. This year i think we can say for sure this is Archies team now and we are still using the tactics that Mcnamara instigated, when we should be tailoring the tactics to the players we have.. we are stuck in a system that worked brilliantly 2 seasons ago and now we don't have the players to fill the needed roles for it. Instead we seem to be shoehorning in players in the hope that they will fit the system and it just isn't working..

Edited September 20, 2014 by dougie247

[RedLightningUK]

Stevenson I think is vital as a leader. People may not like his style of play but I recall the Ross county game and although the team had just taken a 2 game lead he was in among te celebrating players telling them to keep the head and stay in shape.

 

When he was taken off at the Hamilton game I had a feeling the team would lose composure as he wasn't there as a constant telling them to cool it. And they did. The exact same thing happened last night.

 

I'll put my neck on the line again here and say this. Some of these players hae served the club well in our championship year, but since coming up they have not adjusted to the increase in tempo. They struggle with having less time on the ball to make decisions. I see Stevenson running into good space a lot of the time but the service is rancid an a lot of the time players not even considering him as an option. Seeing the game on TV last night he looked visibly frustrated by the time he came off.

 

It raises the question of McFadden...is he better than what we have? At this point I could arguably say yes. And again another Stevenson esque talisman in the team. We have nothing to lose at this point offering him a deal. Chic young States McFadden now would even consider a pay as you play so why on earth not? It could be another shot in the arm of the team, which we evidently need.

[AndyMac]

Dont get me wrong he wasnt great but I thought he was our best player. Dont forget this is only something like his third game for us. By contrast the way Balatoni, Fox and Muirhead played you would think that was their first ever game for us.

I know some think there is not much difference between Fox and Gallacher but I am not convinced we would have lost that game if Gallacher had been in goal.

After they had scored the penalty Muirhead went belting up the pitch ready for us to start again and ran up to try and contribute for last chance saloon. Sorry Aaron that was far far far far too late - you should have been showing that attitude from kick off in the second half.

Only other players who at least tried the 90 minutes were Osman and Lawless.

While Higgy is our best player he was sadly awful last night.

Good goal from Kris but other than miss some complete sitters the rest of the game he did nothing else

 

Very very disappointing and these players have to give a hell of a performance on tuesday night to make up for last nights disgraceful performance in the second half

 

RE: Jake Carrol being man of the match. Fair enough, me saying he was rank rotten, is well over the top and a bit out of order. It can't be easy playing in that defence, he probably deserved a medal more than man of the match.

[javeajag]

The key weakness hof our team has been and is the defence ..., thd managers inability to fix it is getting beyond a joke .... Balatoni and Muirhead are a very poor partnership

[AndyMac]

As the team drifts from what McCall gathered and then Ratnamara built on.. You have to ask what has Archie actually brought to the table.. Same tactics Mcnamara used with a brilliant championship team got us promoted.. some lucky signings and same tactics employed again last season kept us up. This year i think we can say for sure this is Archies team now and we are still using the tactics that Mcnamara instigated, when we should be tailoring the tactics to the players we have.. we are stuck in a system that worked brilliantly 2 seasons ago and now we don't have the players to fill the needed roles for it. Instead we seem to be shoehorning in players in the hope that they will fit the system and it just isn't working..

 

Always thought Ian McCall was a very good manager.

Edited September 20, 2014 by AndyMac

[The Devil's Point]

Always thought Ian McCall was a very good manager.

 

Yes, deserves a lot more credit.

[angry gaz]

Always thought Ian McCall was a very good manager.

Surprised to see him at HT ,Maybe some sort of way back for him. Always thought we could use him somehow in maybe some sort of scouting role. Signed most of Rat boys team IIRC.

[Lindau]

 

 

Always thought Ian McCall was a very good manager.

 

He was! Don't know the full reasons for his departure, other than the rumours, but very surprised that he hasn't had a managerial position since!

Edited September 20, 2014 by Lindau

[lady-isobel-barnett]

very surprised that he hasn't had a managerial position since!

 

certainly not for the lack of trying

[brick_top]

Haven't seen us much in recent times.

 

Thought Carrol was okay, McMillan also was alright too. Osman impressed me a lot, and was my Motm.

 

First half an hour I thought we were in total control. Higgy looked in the mood, Lawless looked lively, Banzo was dictating the game and Carrol and McMillan were getting up the line to good effect. All the midfield were giving Doolan good support, and when we got the goal I thought, at that point, that we would go on to win the game comfortably. We drifted out of it for the latter part of the first half, but St Midden offered absolutely nothing so I wasn't worried at all really. Altho me and my mates all said we would feel a bit better with a second goal.

 

I was confident we would come out and start the 2nd half in the same manner we did the first, and just blow away a very poor side.

 

For some reason, we played the entire secnd half in the same manner that we finished the first. Banzo and higgy drifted out of it, and Doolan was very isolated.

 

I don't know if St Midden made a conscious effort to try to take hold of the midfield, but that's what seemed to happen. Then as the game wore on, it was very obvious that if there was going to be a winner, it'd be them.

 

I still think we'll stay in the division fairly comfortably, just so long as we don't have too many days like that....

[Davie Thistle]

The key weakness hof our team has been and is the defence ..., thd managers inability to fix it is getting beyond a joke .... Balatoni and Muirhead are a very poor partnership

 

Balatoni 8-(

 

been sayin this to emdy that would listen! for ages.

 

Weakest link I think.

[Richard Nixon]

Aye magic, disnae matter that we're sh1te cause there's somebody sh1ter.

 

Teams of the past do not matter, this current team is poor, very poor and we have a management team who look lost at best.

We were poor against ICT, the just in thread confirms that. ICT were just worse. If any team in that league puts us under pressure we crumble.

St Mirren were rank, but brought on a the son of Yardley and our defence bottled it. Bullied all over the place.

 

We're poor, ICT are poor, Buddies are poor, everybody's poor. At least we're all gash together. You want good football give money to Rupert Murdoch and watch some Sky Sports.

[sabbath]

At this level if Conrad gets a game it’s got to be in a back three, he’s all heart but not enough concentration to be left on his own.

 

Without doubt Craigen and Elliot make Ali Dia look like a Brazilian, just how long is it going to take Archie for the penny to drop.

 

Bannigan hasn’t kicked a ball since the departure of McNamara, as for B.A.N.Zee.O. More like D.I.L.D.O. Just like the Ref he takes up good position on the park and never tackles the ball.

 

Foxy, Foxy, Foxy the first few minutes of the game flew through the air like, was it a bird or whatever, certainly not a goalkeeper, time to pull his socks up because it’s not good enough.

 

And as for Jim Slavens big fat, but slower brother, or SteveO as he has more commonly come to be known, what a major disappointment.

 

As for Dools, “two minutes after his goal, which was set up by the wee lawman, only player worth his salt bytheway” casually just kicked it past the post. It is these chances that must be taken to kill games off.

 

 

All in all the game was a delight to the eye and a feast of football not to be missed.

[The Devil's Point]

We're poor, ICT are poor, Buddies are poor, everybody's poor. At least we're all gash together. You want good football give money to Rupert Murdoch and watch some Sky Sports.

 

Best Thistle side I've seen in my lifetime. Let's be patient, it will come good.

[stillresigned]

We're neither good nor bad I think the table accurately reflects where Partick Thistle are and in all honesty where we should be in terms of finance, support etc.

What is worrying is our inability to defend a lead, which points to our main problem i.e. in defence. Had I a spare £1M I would have stuck it on St. Miden on Friday night. We are frankly a soft touch for any team looking for a point or three.

[jagfox]

St Mirren play Aberdeen and Celtic next, we could easily regain our seven point gap over them in a couple of weeks time. Very disappointing and we miss a tall direct striker for a change of style when required. Even someone like Son of Yardley who took his goal well and put himself about well. Balatoni and Muirhead aren't good enough as a partnership, did they not play against Hamilton too. Right enough they were both better than that lad Plummer, St Mirren had at centre half in the first half.

Edited September 21, 2014 by jagfox

[Blackpool Jags]

There's a role for McCall at Firhill just now whether official or not. Somebody - and why not McCall - has to come in and help A&S sort this problem of us collapsing on a regular basis.

 

The really distressing thing is that you can see it about to happen just before it does: players start passing the ball to the opposition, we start to struggle with clearing the ball out of defence under next to no pressure and suddenly everybody is out of position and all over the place. It's like a virus that everybody's been injected with out the blue and for no particular reason. And every one of us starts saying to the person next to us "I can see this mob are gonnae hump us now", usually when we're ahead at the time. And so the inevitable happens again. It's like we've chucked it and don't fancy competing any more that day. Major scunner and getting very hard to take.

 

I wouldn't write off the idea of bringing in McCall, even if only on a short term basis, to help A&S cure this debilitating virus that, if not checked soon, is going to cost us our top flight status. There are far worse things we could do, imo.

 

 

[Jaggernaut]

There's no denying that St Mirren deserved a draw on Friday. I wouldn't go so far as to say they deserved to win, but if the game had gone on for another 15 min without the penalty, I think they would probably have scored anyway. And why? Because they threw everything at us at pace, which we couldn't deal with. By contrast, our triangular passing on the sidelines was so slow and predictable that I could tell exactly where the next ball would go before it was even kicked, and so could the St Mirren players.

 

Last season the major complaints were about losing late, very late goals and thereby throwing away points. So far this season it seems that nothing has changed.

 

That was a real opportunity to put us in the driving seat for a good season and well clear of the relegation zone. Now we're again down there among the could-go-downs. Defeat at Killie, then it'll start to look like a tough season ahead.

[Lindau]

Because they threw everything at us at pace, which we couldn't deal with. By contrast, our triangular passing on the sidelines was so slow and predictable that I could tell exactly where the next ball would go before it was even kicked, and so could the St Mirren players.

 

 

 

Agreed. The whole dynamics of the side has changed with the departure of ATS and SOD being benched. We look pedestrian. With the full backs no longer bombing forward, one might have expected the defensive side to have improved, but sadly that has not been the case.

[potty trained]

For anyone who thinks we played football in the midfield on Friday, ask yourself why Banzo was so poor, then ask yourself how many tackles Ozzy put in, an aspect of his game he was famous for at Thistle. The game passed him by defensively, mostly over his head as his main input became receiving 2nd balls and making passes.

 

So far I was impressed at how we have matured and shown an ability to slow the game down at crucial points. It turns out that that's now our pace and we find it difficult to up our game.

 

Every sub who came on made the same hand gestures, fill your lungs take a breath and get fighting, lift your game. But it was too late for them to influence the players on the park. The mind set was already in place.

 

Our team seem scared to make mistakes.

 

 

[robphil]

Our team seem scared to make mistakes.

a facet of the game that they should feel rather confident about by now i would have thought

[Bleeding Gums Murphy]

Think the fact that not many are disagreeing with the sentiment that Archie isn't building on the McCall & McNamara reigns suggests more are having doubts.

 

I've been shouted down on here in the past for saying such things & perhaps at times folk were correct in saying give him time etc.

 

However, when you think back to that very first game that Archie took the reigns against Morton where we got ourselves 2up early in second half but couldn't defend set pieces, pushed self destruct button and were lucky to escape with the point.

 

Now, wind on 18 months, has he learned? Are the players learning from him? I'd argue no.

 

Bear in mind we have a good number of players that have played League 1 football or higher in England so you could argue we have better players.

 

Yet, the same basic errors are being made. Yes the players have to take some responsibility but when the manager's reaction to us being overrun in the middle of park is not to change the system but to change the personnel (who aren't deemed good enough to start) then why does he think it'll change anything?

 

I think something had to be done. Whether that's an Ian McCall type being brought in on the coaching staff as a fresh pair of eyes or someone else with a bit more coaching experience then so be it but this being out thought & out fought by opposition managers & teams has to change or we're in for a long season.

[Metz]

Think the fact that not many are disagreeing with the sentiment that Archie isn't building on the McCall & McNamara reigns suggests more are having doubt

 

I've been shouted down on here in the past for saying such things & perhaps at times folk were correct in saying give him time etc.

 

However, when you think back to that very first game that Archie took the reigns against Morton where we got ourselves 2up early in second half but couldn't defend set pieces, pushed self destruct button and were lucky to escape with the point.

 

Now, wind on 18 months, has he learned? Are the players learning from him? I'd argue no.

 

Bear in mind we have a good number of players that have played League 1 football or higher in England so you could argue we have better players.

 

Yet, the same basic errors are being made. Yes the players have to take some responsibility but when the manager's reaction to us being overrun in the middle of park is not to change the system but to change the personnel (who aren't deemed good enough to start) then why does he think it'll change anything?

 

I think something had to be done. Whether that's an Ian McCall type being brought in on the coaching staff as a fresh pair of eyes or someone else with a bit more coaching experience then so be it but this being out thought & out fought by opposition managers & teams has to change or we're in for a long season.

Do you seriously think Archie has to evolve from the previous mgt teams? If the Jags had a progression plan in place I would say ok but when has that ever been the case? He's doing a great job let him get on with it!!!

Edited September 21, 2014 by Metz