flashman Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Keenan did get overwhelmed at the start but, considering that it was his debut, I thought he was promising. McDaid and Lindsay look able deputies to cover injury and suspension and hopefully push on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jags on tour Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 I'm not sure i've left a game since we came back up, feeling more proud of the team. Down to the absolute bare bones and i'm sure we all feared the worst when the team lines came out. Apart from the first 15 minutes were we looked a little nervous, the first half we were outstanding. The scottish media bang on and on about DU's exciting youngsters but I think we proved ours are every bit as good! Some of frasers cross field passes to sod/keenan were sublime and for me lawless was our best player. I cant believe we'd ever leave stevie out in favour of being more solid defensively. He puts in as good a shift as anyone and does the ugly stuff too. We've got some very good footballers at our club and I sometimes feel we worry a little too much about other teams players instead of letting them worry about ours. Special mention also for McDaid, keenan and lyndsey who all put in a great performance against a good DU side. All things considered, a great point and a hugely encouraging performance. yeah I think 'proud' sums it up, when I heard the team I was driving towards Firhill on the motorway and was just going to head back up the road but then said to myself to go and support the young guys and I'm delighted I did. If a few of the guys are fit again next week then Archie has a few tough decisions to make. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Passenger Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Keenan did get overwhelmed at the start but, considering that it was his debut, I thought he was promising. He's started before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jags on tour Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Keenan did get overwhelmed at the start but, considering that it was his debut, I thought he was promising. McDaid and Lindsay look able deputies to cover injury and suspension and hopefully push on. Kennan has played a few games earlier this season, he came on vs dundee and started the next game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Passenger Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Kennan has played a few games earlier this season, he came on vs dundee and started the next game. And the one after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
potty trained Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 I thought we were outstanding at times today, the first half is the best 45 I've seen us play this season. Stevenson was a everything I've wanted him to be and is getting better every week. His first touch is incredible just seems to keep the ball so close to his body.he really benefited from having Doolan infront of him meaning he didn't need to deal with centre halfs all day. Can that pairing work for the rest of the season? Now that Stevenson is up to speed then maybe it can, would be great to see. If we can progress with those two then we need an alternative competition for Doolan's place to keep him on his toes. For a young boy with little game time McDaid was full of confidence, not scared to make a mistake and didn't hide. However as the game wore on I felt he and SOD bece isolated from each other. Lawless worked tirelessly on the left and right now is a better option than Higgy on today's and his previous performances. Fraser was a real let down, I hope he's still struggling with fitness because he was miles off it and some of his passing was wayward, to be kind to him. Banzo did his usual, look how brave I am, needless tackle in the middle of the park. But apiary from that played well and didn't hide after his booking. SOD had loads of space on the right and we didn't use him on far too many occasions. He linked up well with McDaid and stevi when attacking, but can still look like a fish out of water positionally when defending. Balatoni strolled through the game, he seemed to revel in being the experienced head, brushing folk off the ball and stepping out from defence. Strange to hear him get an encouraging cheer when he blocked a late cross into the box and it went out of play, I could have sworn he was getting lambasted the other week for doing exactly the same thing. Lindsay looks a player who will progress into a regular Premiership centre half, confident and powerful, won plenty in the air and looked good with a ball playing centre half beside him. Keenan looked out his depth early, but my dad said that Archie and Shaggy pulled him over after their goal, no idea what was said, what words they had, but from that moment he dealt with everything thrown at him. It seemed to completely change, there was no fear in his game from then on. He looks good going forward and game time can improve his sharpness defensively. Gall was Gall, what a great keeper. Great to hear folk around me getting upset with Craigans first touch of the game, a through ball at pace and he brings it down on his chest, unlucky it bounces just infront and onto the centre half. But not good enough for some fans with ridiculously high expectations of someone just on the park. Absolutely over the moon with today's result. A hard fought point with a depleted squad and playing some great attacking football. Mon the jags. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashman Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 He's started before. Kennan has played a few games earlier this season, he came on vs dundee and started the next game. And the one after that. For his debut 2nd debut 3rd debut 4th debut, I thought that Keenan was promising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleeding Gums Murphy Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 You are such an arse! Touchė! You have said that I can't give credit- where quite plainly I have before- so just making sure you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancipital Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Deserved point based on how excellent we were between minutes 10-45, which was as good as we've been since promotion, and just on graft for the rest of the game when large parts of the team were clearly running on empty (Fraser in the 2nd half in particular). A more cynical man than I might point out that necessity was the mother of invention and we ended up playing a front 4 who were all better attackers than defenders, and we tore United apart for half an hour. Stevenson in the first half was absolutely everywhere but there wasn't a failure in the team. Second half we visibly ran out of energy which is understandable given the health issues in the squad and a draw was fair- we even got a bit of luck at the end when they missed a couple of decent chances and the ref never pulled Keenan up for his trip on Dow. Good results elsehwere and if we can get through next 2 games with 2 draws or a win vs County and a loss then we're not far from safe. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metz Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Today was just about everything it means to be a Jags fan. Low expectation at the start built to will we won't we finally ending up with a credible draw that most of us didn't think possible at the start let alone after the first goal. The kids done well but the real stars where Balatoni, Stevenson, o'Donnell, Doolan, Lawless, Fraser and Bannigan who retained the ball well and kept the tempo high in attack in the first half. A few of those guys have been slated on this forum and believe me will be again, that's the problem not just for the fans but the manager on their day they are good players however their form is just inconsistent. Regardless not a day for that it's a welcome performance and point, and also pleasing to see Jackie M's ability to win away from home is still a problem for him, glad to see he is still learning, not!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaleGreySky Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Balatoni was absolutely brilliant today. Stevenson was very dependable and took on the burden of being a senior player very readily - impressed. Lindsay was good but poor header for their second. I thought Keenan was very good. Better than Carroll has been this season. Pretty good, but I often think we look worse than we are because of our approach to games - i.e. sitting back - which is probably more down to AA than the individual players. Bannigan used to be better than he is now and this seems to be because he's not given licence to push forward/pass expansively. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stewarty Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Agree wholeheartedly with folks' comments re Balatoni - he was superb today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Third Lanark Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 I know a few people suggested loaning mcdaid out but the guy appears good enough to fight for a place in the spl - to be fair Dundee utd didn't loan out young lads like Andrew Robertson or Ryan Gauld and look at how much they benefitted from being around the first team. I'd say McDaid is a must to get on a new contract Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graemei Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Great game today, apart from losing an early goal the first half was probably the most enjoyable i've watched all season. Can't be arsed with analysis of the game, but I liked McDaid, hopefully see more of him this season. Also I think we are much better going forward with Stevenson attacking mid and Dools up front... Hope this continues or if we sign another striker in January a similar partnership. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winter of '63 Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 That was a game which makes watching football and Partick Thistle in particular an emotion charged experience - I feared an absolute horsing early on, then we played brilliantly for half an hour and spent the second half under pressure. The old heads in the side really stepped up to the plate - I have been a regular critic of Balatoni but that was as well as I've seen him play, Bannigan was immense, Fraser hit some great passes (though they both tired in the second half), O'Donnell was an attacking threat and made some important challenges and Lawless was outstanding - his suberb skill and pass to put Stevenson through on the left wing deserved better than the shot which threatened the dug-out more than the goal...but all part of the entertainment at Firhill. All of these guys are still in their very early 20's so credit to them. Of the real youngsters, Keenan looked hopelessly out of his depth in the first 15 minutes but after some guidance from the dug-out he settled into a decent game; Lindsay looked calm but misplaced a header and then dived in in the lead-up to their equaliser; McDaid was lively and willing - delighted to see them get some game time and look forward to seeing more of them. When he was signed, I assumed that Stevenson would play in the attacking midfielder role that we didn't really fill last season. He was useless earlier in the season but he is now beginning to look the part. Doolan did well too but it did look like a real chance he missed and then the follow up at the post - was it Fraser? I was too far away to see but I was expecting the net to bulge. I haven't mentioned Gallagher - no chance with either goal but although we were pushed back the only save he made was in the first minute. United moved the ball about well but we defended very well as a team. We didn't look like scoring in the second half and our best chance was when Craigen with his first touch failed to play in the unmarked Lawless with a simple header. Although the ball then broke for him in a good position, James wasn't strong enough in the challenge to retain possession. I think Craigen has some potential and takes very unfair criticism but there was a reason just about everyone was shouting at him. The team were given tremendous support but the number of Thistle fans who turned up was pathetic. Why weren't you there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jag Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 A great point given the circumstances. I heard a few of the players that played did so despite being unwell so credit to them all. It was great to see three such attack minded players in behind the striker and the last half hour of the first half was as good as we have been this season. We kept possession well and created a number of chances. Had the one that fell to Doolan and Fraser been put away I don't think there would have been any way back for Dundee Utd. We struggled to keep the ball in the second half which I was expecting to a certain extent but not quite as badly as it turned out. The inexperienced players did very well apart from a couple of lapses from Keenan but I was really pleased with them and their work rate. I would like to see McDaid get used a bit more often from here on in, especially if Higgy is going to go at the end of the season. I thought Stevenson and Balatoni were stand outs but Steven Lawless would have got my vote for Man Of The Match. He was simply outstanding during that first half period. Really puzzled as to why he has been out the team in recent weeks. Looking forward to seeing what Archie does next week. In my opinion he must start Doolan again and play Stevenson in his more natural position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaggyMad Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Outstanding contribution from the whole team today. As has been said, after seeing the starting line up thought we would take a hiding. First quarter of a hour we were ran ragged down the left, but produced the best 30 mins of football from our team all season. Well done to the youngsters who came in today, all played a major part of our draw. Sat back too deep second half, but defence was solid and we deserved a draw at the very least. A special mention has to go to the referee...utter pish again. We had stonewaller of a penalty denied in the 1st half after dools had been taken out. Seriously do we have any decent match offials in Scotland? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoda-jag Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Credit to Archie and the boys. Any preparation for this match would have been severly hampered by the late call-offs, yet, aside from the first 10 minutes, I thought we looked well organised. We ran out of steam in the second half but still managed to take a point off of a very decent Utd side. Positives: - McDaid showed that he has a bright future at the club. He kept things relatively simple but was always alert and assured in posession. - Similarly, Lindsay had a solid game against an attack with pace and power. - Stevenson was absolutely superb. The worry has always been that playing him in the AM position may leave our central midfielders too exposed. I never felt this was the case today: he ran his socks off, linked midfield and attack well, and threw his weight about when it was required. - Wee Lawless must have put glue on his boots prior to kick off, as the ball stuck to him even in the tightest of positions. He looked really dangerous in the first half and has made the case for a more regular start. agree with your positives. would also add ..... balatoni ..... immense. stepped up, and proved how good he can be, led by example. keenan ..... after shaky start, gained in confidence and toughness in the tackle, and look a real prospect. doolan ..... him and stevo in same team works a treat, as you say stevo in AM today dispelled any fears and his all round play was superb. having dools up gave us options and shows that when picked, he is a goal or more a game threat to score, a tremendous asset to have, as well as pulling defenders all over the place. Well I will be honest, when I saw the team I thought we might be on the end of a tanking and when that early goal went in, I was positive. What I saw from then until half time was probably the best football we have played under Archie. We absolutely mullered them and we could easily have went in 3 goals up. What was shown today is that at long last we have some half decent young guys coming through the ranks. Thought Lindsay was very good and credit goes to big Conrad for guiding him through a tough baptism. Thought Conrad was very good today. Young McDaid was a right handful and both him and Lawless ran them ragged for that 30 minute period. Sadly Keenan got a bit of a toasting (similar to Banzo at Fir Park last week) but fair play, he plugged away. He probably needs at least another half season on loan. Stevo showed today, why he was signed. He was bloody immense. Keep both him and Dools in the team along with Lawless. Considering all the pre match problems we had, that was an excellent performance and result. i'd agree with all that except on keenan. although there is some merit in loaning out youngsters for game time and experience, lindsey, mcdaid and keenan all did themselves proud today, in a game that was an against all odds type game. all three showed the old adage "if they are good enough, doesn't matter how young they are, play them" is still applicable. all three made a good case for them starting again for us, without any doubt they could cope admirably. not one of them hid, nor did they look out of place. if anything, they showed a no fear attitude, wanting to get stuck into the opposition, and can be proud of their contribution to what was an overall, superb team display. Keenan did get overwhelmed at the start but, considering that it was his debut, I thought he was promising. McDaid and Lindsay look able deputies to cover injury and suspension and hopefully push on. apart from your debut comment, agree, but would also add that there's no reason why one, two or all three cannot stake a claim to being regular starters in the coming months, if their performances when they arise, merit their continued inclusion. play like they did today, every opportunity they get, and would any deserve being dropped? I thought we were outstanding at times today, the first half is the best 45 I've seen us play this season. Stevenson was a everything I've wanted him to be and is getting better every week. His first touch is incredible just seems to keep the ball so close to his body.he really benefited from having Doolan infront of him meaning he didn't need to deal with centre halfs all day. Can that pairing work for the rest of the season? Now that Stevenson is up to speed then maybe it can, would be great to see. If we can progress with those two then we need an alternative competition for Doolan's place to keep him on his toes. For a young boy with little game time McDaid was full of confidence, not scared to make a mistake and didn't hide. However as the game wore on I felt he and SOD bece isolated from each other. Lawless worked tirelessly on the left and right now is a better option than Higgy on today's and his previous performances. Fraser was a real let down, I hope he's still struggling with fitness because he was miles off it and some of his passing was wayward, to be kind to him. Banzo did his usual, look how brave I am, needless tackle in the middle of the park. But apiary from that played well and didn't hide after his booking. SOD had loads of space on the right and we didn't use him on far too many occasions. He linked up well with McDaid and stevi when attacking, but can still look like a fish out of water positionally when defending. Balatoni strolled through the game, he seemed to revel in being the experienced head, brushing folk off the ball and stepping out from defence. Strange to hear him get an encouraging cheer when he blocked a late cross into the box and it went out of play, I could have sworn he was getting lambasted the other week for doing exactly the same thing. Lindsay looks a player who will progress into a regular Premiership centre half, confident and powerful, won plenty in the air and looked good with a ball playing centre half beside him. Keenan looked out his depth early, but my dad said that Archie and Shaggy pulled him over after their goal, no idea what was said, what words they had, but from that moment he dealt with everything thrown at him. It seemed to completely change, there was no fear in his game from then on. He looks good going forward and game time can improve his sharpness defensively. Gall was Gall, what a great keeper. Great to hear folk around me getting upset with Craigans first touch of the game, a through ball at pace and he brings it down on his chest, unlucky it bounces just infront and onto the centre half. But not good enough for some fans with ridiculously high expectations of someone just on the park. Absolutely over the moon with today's result. A hard fought point with a depleted squad and playing some great attacking football. Mon the jags. very good reflection on today and who did what. very little to disagree with, and if did, it would be picking holes for sake of it. Deserved point based on how excellent we were between minutes 10-45, which was as good as we've been since promotion, and just on graft for the rest of the game when large parts of the team were clearly running on empty (Fraser in the 2nd half in particular). A more cynical man than I might point out that necessity was the mother of invention and we ended up playing a front 4 who were all better attackers than defenders, and we tore United apart for half an hour. Stevenson in the first half was absolutely everywhere but there wasn't a failure in the team. Second half we visibly ran out of energy which is understandable given the health issues in the squad and a draw was fair- we even got a bit of luck at the end when they missed a couple of decent chances and the ref never pulled Keenan up for his trip on Dow. Good results elsehwere and if we can get through next 2 games with 2 draws or a win vs County and a loss then we're not far from safe. same as pt post, good reflection on today and little to disagree with, but would say united were possibly just as, if not more lucky, they got a point ..... as the more the first half went on the more there was only one team in it, with a ref decision/penalty here, a block not stopping a certain goal there, a bit of luck just before half-time in the ping pong, then game could have been over at halftime. we were immense and no one could have begrudged us a two or three goal lead at ht, based on the fifteen to fortyfive period. also pleasing to see Jackie M's ability to win away from home is still a problem for him, glad to see he is still learning, not!!! good point (pun intended). will archie be given credit by our resident knicker-wetters for learning, and progressing us, by setting us out to play the way we did, or will the deflection by some be he only played that way because we had no alternative personnel to play any other way? 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jlsarmy Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Fantastic performance by PTFC, best game I've seen for ages at Firhill , big credit to the youngsters who played and also the more experienced players like Stevenson and Doolan who helped them through the game , really hope we stick with Stevenson in midfield and Dools up front , gives us much more of a threat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoda-jag Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 I know a few people suggested loaning mcdaid out but the guy appears good enough to fight for a place in the spl - to be fair Dundee utd didn't loan out young lads like Andrew Robertson or Ryan Gauld and look at how much they benefitted from being around the first team. I'd say McDaid is a must to get on a new contract disagree with this, i cannot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennymac29 Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Agree with all the above (esp potty trained post) with some additional points: - mcdaid much better at not being offside than Elliott and others. He made a run and if the pass wasn't spotted stopped before the lineman pulled him up - frasers decision making is poor, he's got some strike when he hits it's right but he snatches quite a few and today's 90th min free kick was shocking. - jimmy craigen can do no right, he went for a header between two united players today and lost out, obviously and still got abuse for being a sh*tebag. All in all great point and totally unexpected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stillresigned Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 That is quite a large part of our fanbase. People who attend seemingly only to complain. It seems to be their main enjoyment in life. Miserable feckers. I've been going to Firhill for nearly forty years and I really got to say, that a sizeable army of critics have made up a noisy minority of our support. And who am I to deny them this simple pleasure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaggyben Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Today was a great result just looked at the fixture list this was the hardest celtic postponement not included all the next 7-8 games winnable and could go a long way to being safe for the season looking a lot better than this time last year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebiglemon Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) Re: the crowd. Disappointing indeed and here's why I wasn't there 1200 Jags fans went to Motherwell and were thoroughly scunnered, me included. Some like me decided to pass on this one as a result especially when I saw the dry forecast and planned a cycle this afternoon after the icy roads thawed a bit, instead of the game. Delighted with a draw with United and will be back at the next home game- might even go to St Johnstone though that's never been much fun in the past. Edit: did support my local team Neilston yesterday as I often do. 2-1 to the Farmer's boys 'n' all Edited January 4, 2015 by thebiglemon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Earl of Hathaway Posted January 4, 2015 Report Share Posted January 4, 2015 Saw the team on Twitter in the Woody and thought we were in for a doing. Very glad to be proved wholly wrong. After the shaky start we got tore about them in the best fashion I've seen us play in a few seasons. Thought Stevenson and Lawless were immense today - tenacious and creative in equal measure. Anxiety ridden second half as I couldn't believe that we would walk away with nothing for our endeavour so a good point to take. Special mention to the small group of supporters to the left of me who berated every player on or off the ball in the second half, requested that Archie 'not turn up tomorrow' and gave him pesters for not making any subs. I wonder if the Scottish media will be wetting themselves over our talented team of youngsters like they do United? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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