Stats Watch 2015-16

[Lenziejag]

Football is a team game, but as we are looking at the defensive pairings, I would suggest that it is the goals against pg and the clean sheet % that is more relevant and in that regard it looks like Archie should maybe have persevered with a Frans/Lindsay pairing ?

[allyo]

Shows what a settled team we had this season. Appearances drop of sharply after the first nine or ten and really only the right back and the second centre back positions were shared. Striker and goalkeeper to a lesser extent and one of these was entirely involuntary.

[The Jukebox Rebel]

^ Fair point Lenzie, although we're probably lacking in a substantial number of outings to get a real clear view. This was how the Frans / Lindsay partnership fared - all early doors in the campaign:

 

01.08.2015 Hamilton Academical [a] D0-0 (SPFL Premiership - game 1)

12.08.2015 Inverness Caledonian Thistle [a] D0-0 (SPFL Premiership - game 3)

15.08.2015 Kilmarnock [h] D2-2 (SPFL Premiership - game 4)

29.08.2015 Aberdeen [h] L0-2 (SPFL Premiership - game 6)

12.09.2015 Dundee [h] L0-1 (SPFL Premiership - game 7)

 

Edited to say: my apologies to you Lenzie (and all) I noticed a table error, which I've now rectified. As the table now shows, all the partnerships which featured Frans had a very healthy goals-against column.

Edited May 16, 2016 by The Jukebox Rebel

[The Jukebox Rebel]

THE SEASON REVIEW IN STATS

 

Ladies and gents, my sincerest thanks to you all for reading and contributing to the Stats thread this term... it was fun and informative for me to do and, as always, was made ten-times better by all your chip-ins... and now... your handy "cut-out-and-keep" best-of / worst-of overview… with a few new ones as well…

 

 

JULY

14th: At Eastleigh, Thistle play non-Scottish opposition for the 24th season-in-a-row, further extending the club record (what with the new League Cup will there be a 25th I wonder?) It's the club's most southerly game in the British Isles since visiting Fratton Park in 1972. Tomáš Cerný sets a positive tone for his new club by registering a clean-sheet debut. Montserratian Terrell Miller becomes the latest member of the burgeoning Thistle Internationalists club.

25th: In a 1-1 Firhill draw vs Rotherham, 16-year-old James Penrice becomes the latest ThistleWeir graduate to appear for the first-team, and takes over from Neil McLaughlin as the most recently born Thistle first-team player.

 

AUGUST

1st: In a stalemate at New Douglas Park, Freddy Frans becomes the first Jag to be sent off in the opening competitive fixture since Dougie Bell 24 years earlier. Thistle’s 23-year 9-game unbeaten run for top-flight openers, which began in 1992, duly continues, and is the longest by time-span amongst our Premiership rivals. Rangers [1872], in 1981, were the last side to defeat the Jags in a top flight opener.

9th: In a blaze of publicity, Mathias Pogba makes his big-game Thistle debut in a 2-0 loss at home to Celtic. The Guinean is, already, the second new addition of the season to the Thistle Internationalists club.

12th: Another stalemate, this time at the Caledonian Stadium, means that, for the very first time in history, Thistle have failed to score in the opening 3 League games.

15th: Predictably, Kris Doolan nets Thistle's first competitive goals of the season in a 2-2 Firhill draw vs Killie and shoots himself into the All-Time Top 20 competitive goals chart. Alas, a red for Lindsay and a late Kris Boyd equaliser takes the shine off.

22nd: Instead of equalling the all-time club-record of 6 consecutive away-day clean-sheets in the "all-games" category, Jags come a cropper and lose by 3 to nil at Tynecastle.

25th: Falkirk, who had conceded 5 goals at home to Peterhead in the Challenge Cup a week earlier, leave Firhill with a clean-sheet and progress to the 3rd Round of the League Cup. Thistle can't buy a goal.

29th: The 2-0 defeat at home to Aberdeen means that 15 League points have been spilled in a single calendar month; a new club-record. Thistle fans become the most goal starved across the 8 Scottish / English Leagues, and have now failed to see their team score in 83% of this season's League games.

 

SEPTEMBER

12th: 'Til now ever-present Gary Miller makes way for Mustapha Dumbuya. The Sierra Leone star becomes the third addition to the Thistle Internationalists club in less than ten weeks. At Firhill, a Greg Stewart goal for Dundee, deep into the second half, means that it's a losing debut for Muzzy.

19th: Thistle lose 1-0 at Victoria Park and equal the 85-year-old club-record of failing to score in 5 consecutive competitive away games. Thistle have now failed to score in 9 of their last 10 competitive games - it's a run which is unprecedented in the club's history.

26th: In a 2-1 defeat at Fir Park, David Amoo's close-range header ensures that Thistle's bizarre 19 month run of 8 competitive games without a goal in the away strip finally come to an end. David's goal puts the end point as 25th September on a new time-span club-record; 131 days had passed with only one player - Kris Doolan - having registered a competitive goal on the score sheets, the longest such stretch recorded since competitive games became the majority in the fixture card in 1891-92. Not that any of this was much consolation for rock-bottom Jags. The agonising wait for a competitive victory in 2015-16 now goes into double figures; it's 43 years since the wait was longer. History was made in the final 25 minutes of the match, as Thistle had a seven nation representation on the pitch at the same time.

 

OCTOBER

3rd: Archie celebrates the start of his reign as the outright longest serving manager in the Scottish Premiership with one of the most season-defining games in recent history. Everything clicks for Thistle as our seven nation army register a pressure-relieving 3-0 win at home to Dundee United. An all-time club-record-making three-nation scoresheet ensures the success; England (Amoo), Sierra Leone (Dumbuya) and Scotland (Bannigan). The Jags leapfrog the Arabs at the bottom of the table, a blow from which the Tannadice men do not recover.

17th: After the international break Thistle are chomping at the bit to build on their first win of the season and duly register an excellent 2-1 win at Perth - only Thistle's second League win away to the Saints since reconstruction in 1975 - thanks to a couple of worldies from Gaz Miller and Stevie Lawless, both of which end up on the goal-of-the-season short-list. The latter proves to an award-winner!

31st: It's Helloween against Hearts, as Ryan Scully becomes (we think) the first-ever Thistle goalie to be sent off at Firhill and Thistle's 3 game unbeaten run comes shuddering to a halt as Thistle lose by a 4 goal margin at home to Hearts for the first time ever. The Jammy Tarts become the first side in 33 years to benefit from 2 penalty goals against Thistle in the same match.

 

NOVEMBER

7th: Thistle line up with a different goalie for the third competitive game in-a-row and Paul Gallacher registers, what proves to be, the oldest appearance of the season at 36 years, 2 months, 22 days. Galls is as solid as ever, but is cruelly denied a clean-sheet by a late Hemmings equaliser.

14th: The faithful are delirious as Ryan Stevenson nicks what is probably the most unlikeliest last-minute winner ever seen at Firhill. His speculative 30-yarder from the touchline somehow drifts into the net and clinches a 2-1 win over Caley. Ryan's goal sets an all-time club-record for different Thistle players scoring consecutively in competitive action. Amazingly, it's now 9 different players who have scored the last 9 goals: David Amoo; Mustapha Dumbuya; Stuart Bannigan; Gary Miller; Steven Lawless; Mathias Pogba; Liam Lindsay; Kris Doolan; Ryan Stevenson.

21st: Previously goal-shy Jags confound even themselves by scoring 5 at Rugby Park for the very first-time in history.

 

DECEMBER

12th: Doolan's goal at Tannadice seperates the sides as Thistle register their first competitive victory in the away strip since the 2-1 triumph at home to Cove Rangers 3 years, 1 month and 9 days earlier - flippin' mental stuff. By the way, Sir Kris scored that day too. Obviously.

19th: Thistle's horrendous early-season results seem a lifetime away as a 1-0 win at home to County makes it a happy Christmas for all Jagskind. Thistle win 4-in-a-row in the top-flight for the first time in over 38 years.

30th: After a fighting draw at Pittodrie, the commanding Tomáš Cerný is now on a run of 345 minutes without conceding a goal. On a team level, he's now celebrating 3 consecutive clean-sheets since his return from injury. The point means that Thistle finish 2015 with back to back unbeaten calendar months - equalling the club-record for top-flight seasons. It's the first time a top-flight Thistle side have went two consecutive calendar months unbeaten in competitive action since the famous '62-'63 side, who were gunning for the Scottish title. Only Archibald, Thornton and Turner have done such a thing. It's one of the most magnificent stats of Archie's reign.

 

JANUARY

2nd: Nir Bitton becomes the first Celt to be sent off vs Thistle since Tommy Burns in 1978. Jags play to win at Celtic Park but are left devastated by a last-minute killer-blow by Leigh Griffiths. Top Cat's awesome 434 minutes run without conceding comes to an end.

8th: A 2-1 Scottish Cup win under the Friday night lights ensures St Mirren Park still stands as one of 4 undefeated SPFL member territories for Partick Thistle in the "all-games" category; the others being Borough Briggs, Galabank and Shielfield Park.

16th: Jags recent good form disintegrates in the snow, as Dundee are the first side to return 4 first half goals against Thistle since Clyde led Dick Campbell's Jags by 4 goals to nil in a First Division encounter at Firhill in March, 2007.

 

FEBRUARY

6th: There's Cup heartbreak at Tannadice as an ultra-defensive Thistle side seek, and fail, to win ugly. Thistle have now failed to score in 13 out of 26 matches (50%) and remain on course to smash the all-time record (43.6%) set in 1920-21. In 14 decades of Scottish Cup action, the 2010s currently stand alongside the 1990s as the only decade without a Scottish Cup Quarter Final appearance by Thistle.

23rd: The much-maligned Firhill pitch finally sees action again and Thistle put the Scottish Cup failure behind them with a fine 2-0 win versus St Johnstone - the first game after Partick Thistle's 140th "birthday". Alan Archibald becomes the 8th man to manage Thistle in 100 top-flight games. On his watch, Thistle have conceded just 137 top-flight goals in those games; it's the same-stage lowest total of any Thistle manager in history. A truly incredible stat.

23rd: Tomáš Černý registers his 9th top-flight clean-sheet and is on-course to set an all-time 'keepers club-record of 15 clean-sheets in a top-flight League campaign, with 6 out of the last 14 being his required target. In the end, he will be thwarted by injury.

27th: At Fir Park, Callum Booth gets his first Thistle goal at the 46th time of asking, Thistle's first away-day League goal of 2016. It's only a consolation though - so gallus are Motherwell that they become the first side in more than 13 years to not even bother with utilising a substitute vs Thistle.

 

MARCH

2nd: For the first-time in history, Thistle register a 4th consecutive victory over St Johnstone. The 2-1 midweek win in Perth puts Archie's Jags on-course for a post-reconstruction best ppg, ahead of Bertie Auld's Jags. Callum Booth becomes the first Thistle full-back in over 50 years (and the first-ever 'modern' full-back) to score in two consecutive top-flight games. This 2-in-a-row grabs him an unlikely share of the category record jointly held by: Bill Gray (Apr 1908); Stewart Calderwood (Dec 1936) and Joe Hogan (Nov-Dec 1962).

5th: At Tynecastle, Thistle start with an unchanged line-up for the first time this season but it's Djoum and gloom (ahem) as those away-day blanks strike again. With 3 defeats and a -8 goal difference, Thistle's 2015-16 record vs Hearts currently sits as our worst single-season League record vs any team in the SPFL era.

8th: At Firhill, Stevie Lawless ends Thistle's longest-ever goal drought vs Aberdeen; now set at 527 minutes. Our joy turns to despair with a gut-wrenching 3-minute spell late on, as the Aberdonians snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Sadly, this ends what has been a mighty run of 26 competitive games without defeat when we score the opening goal.

12th: Trailing 2-0 at home to Celtic, something miraculous happens - Thistle are awarded a penalty-kick, ending an agonizing 18-month run of 68 competitive games without such an award; the longest streak since, at least, 1895. Remarkably, Stephen Finnie remains as the only referee to have awarded Thistle a penalty in the last 87 competitive games. Sean Welsh converts comfortably, ending a mammoth 25-month run of 86 competitive games without such an occurrence. Furthermore, Sean's goal ends Thistle's longest-ever goal drought vs Celtic; now set at 630 minutes. All of which proves to be academic however, as the all-time club-record for consecutive losses to the same team in the League is once again reset, now standing at 19 consecutive League losses to Celtic, 6 games beyond the previous record.

19th: In the 84th minute at New Douglas Park, Kris ended his incredible all-games run of 114 appearances without an assist. The co-incidentals with his only other top-flight assist - against St Mirren in August 2013 - are amazing. That day he had also came on as a second half sub; it was also an away-day; his assist was also in the 84th minute; it also resulted in a 2-1 win; and it also completed a Jags comeback from a goal down.

 

APRIL

2nd: It's stalemate vs Killie as Thistle draw at Firhill for the first time in almost 5½ months. Having scored just 0.97 goals-per-game in competitive action this term, Thistle are on course to register their second-lowest strike-rate of all-time. The lowest ratio ever recorded by a Thistle team was 0.93 goals-per-game in 1981-82.

5th: For the second time this season, a solitary Kris Doolan goal is enough to bag 3 precious points for Thistle versus United, an entirely unprecedented 4th consecutive League win AND 4th consecutive clean-sheet against them. With his 84th goal in all competitions, Kris moves ahead of Dougie Somner in that all-time table, and now sits at 14th. Shrigley's thumbs are up all over Firhill – amazingly, all 5 of the artistic giveaway games of 2015-16 have resulted in 5 Thistle victories with 5 clean-sheets!

9th: For the first-time-ever, Thistle went into the final round of pre-split League fixtures with a chance to make the Top 6 cut, but it wasn't to be. However, with 41 points, Thistle register their highest-ever tally at split-time. Hindsight tells that a draw would have been enough to make the Top 6 but, for the second time this season, Thistle lose 1-0 in Dingwall. It's Thistle's 7th 1-0 defeat of the season - this proves to be our most common result of the campaign.

23rd: The living legend that is Kris Doolan takes his competitive goals tally into double figures for the 6th consecutive season, becoming only the second man in history to do so. Jimmy Walker's 62-year-old record of 7-in-a-row is now in his sights! However, his equaliser proves to be academic as Hemmings once again steals a late winner for the Dens Park men at Firhill. For the first time in history, Thistle lose 3 home League games to the same team in the same season. Amazingly, Dundee have only won 3 of their last 20 away games - all at Firhill!

30th: Thistle are crushed 4-1 at home by Inverness. By this stage, the side have failed to score a first-half goal in 38 out of their last 47 competitive matches, a run which is completely unprecedented in the club's history. Thistle will score in the first half of the last three matches of the season but it won't be enough to prevent a new record low being set. At season's end, the new record is set at 73.2%, beating the old record of 70.2% which was set as recently as 2007-08.

 

MAY

7th: Goals from Lawless and Doolan ensure safety as Archie's indomitable Jags do the bounce-back at Rugby Park, with a club-record 67th top-flight win over silly Killie. Alan Archibald registers his 32nd top-flight victory as Thistle manager, surpassing Davie McParland's tally of 31. Next target: 6th placed John Lambie with 42 wins. The amazing Kris Doolan now takes his place as Thistle's highest League goal scorer (79) since Willie Sharp, who played his last game for the club more than 59 years ago in February, 1957.

10th: ThistleWeir graduate James Penrice becomes the most recently-born player to play competitively for Thistle, and the youngest to make an appearance this term. The 17-year-old provides a high-quality assist on his competitive debut. Unfortunately, Thistle let a 3-1 lead slip at Tannadice, and must settle for a point. That point, at least, ensures that, for the FOURTH CONSECUTIVE SEASON, Archie's Jags have grabbed some table record action, setting one new record and equalling another. Our away Goal Difference (-1) stands as the new all-time club-record for the Top Flight. Since the criteria was introduced in 1970-71, our previous best (-3) was set as recently as 2013-14! Also, 24 top-flight away points equals the existing record haul which was set... wait for it... by Archie's Jags in 2013-14!

14th: The season ends with an entertaining 2-2 draw at home to Hamilton, with Kris Doolan challenging some records and breaking other records. His second minute goal means that he has scored for Thistle in 5 consecutive competitive games, extending his new personal-best. He's the first Jag since Joe McBride in 1961 to achieve this feat purely in top-flight action and he now has the category record 6-in-a-row in his 2016-17 targets. With his 14 goals tally, Kris Doolan finishes as the joint-5th top goalscorer in this season's SPFL Premiership. It's the third consecutive season that Kris has finished in that prestigious Top 10, and he's only one of two men to have done so. He's the only one to have done it at the same club. As a wonderful Brucey bonus, Kris becomes the first-ever player in the Scottish game to score in every post-split game. Henrik who??? Forget yer Boyd and Commons, Doolan's the only Kris worth talking about!!! Kris sits as the 6th all-time highest goalscorer in the SPFL Premiership with respected hitmen such as Nadir Ciftci, Niall McGinn, Anthony Stokes and Kris Boyd trailing in his wake. On the home front, Kris finishes as Partick Thistle's outright top League scorer for the 5th time and becomes the first man in history to do so.

 

 

And so ended the 141^st season of the Partick Thistle Football Club.

 

Our frailties were there for all to see – but so too was our tremendous team spirit.

 

It’s now time to look forward and, in this regard, the club have been brilliantly mobilized for months with pre-contracts and all-sorts.

 

I look forward to winning more penalties thereby demonstrating that we’re getting more men into dangerous positions more frequently.

 

I look forward to Kris Doolan becoming our all-time highest SFL / SPL / SPFL scorer – perhaps even as early as the forthcoming season.

 

I look forward to the continuing emergence of ThistleWeir talents – could Penrice be the next Archibald?

 

I look forward to the Archie / Shaggy partnership keeping that spirit high and getting results on the pitch. In 2016-17 can they set a League Table record for the 5^th season-in-a-row?

 

With the pair signed up ‘til 2018-19 they have an opportunity to make all sorts of great history for themselves and for the club. Should Thistle establish top-flight status in that time, we'd be set for a seventh consecutive term in 2019-20, which would be the second longest stretch in the club’s history. Now that’s what I call a target.

 

We’re in a good place right now.

 

Mon’ the Jags!

 

[lady-isobel-barnett]

That's incredible work there, TJR. Thanks once again. Fantastic

[michael m]

TJR - that is phenomenal! Kudos to you for that splendid read

[Barney Rubble]

This thread never ceases to be the most entertaining (and least controversial!) of any on the forum - so well done TJR!!!

 

You and Kris Doolan are the Jags of the season!!

[jaggy]

Great read and some amazing stats

[douglas clark]

TJR,

 

It has all been said above, but you are a forum hero!

[The Jukebox Rebel]

Stats nerd turned "hero" shocker. I don't want to seem ungrateful or owt, but can I be a "cult-favourite" instead, please? Always wanted to be one of them.

 

One mair for the road?

 

In this season's Premiership, Partick Thistle (second only to Hearts), had more away-day clean-sheets (6) than Celtic (5).

 

A nice wee casual drop-in next time you see yer Timmy mate.

[partickthedog]

Excellent stats my friend, but perhaps it is worth mentioning our DoublOOns, the players with a double O in their surnames.

 

Kris DOOlan, David AmOO and Calum BOOth finished first, second and equal fourth in the top goal scorers list and between them contributed 22 goals, more than half of our total for the season. I have spoken to Archie and explained how this should inform his recrOOtment for the coming campaign, and accordingly I can exclOOsively reveal our intended starting line up for the first match of the nyOO season (in goalkeeper plus 4-4-TOO formation), Some old fans' favourites return to the club and a fyOO veterans and controversial names are in there alongside the big money signings, but hopefully the Firhill rafters will sOOn be ringing to the tyOOn of Hey JOOde.

 

Marc POOm

 

Allan MOOre

Jim GOOdwin

Glen LOOvens

Calum BOOth

 

David AmOO

Wayne ROOney

Adam ROOney

David GOOdwillie

 

Vyaschlev MOOc

Kris DOOlan

Edited May 18, 2016 by partickthedog

[The Jukebox Rebel]

I've suddenly remembered as weans we used to speak eggy in the streets of Drumchapel. Anybody else? What am I asking below?

 

Oodai ouyai antwai ootai ogai ootai ethai atchmai?

 

To be fair, it's a language for speaking not writing...

[BowenBoys]

hatwai atchmai?

[The Jukebox Rebel]

alkirkfai ersusvai ilmarnockkai?

[BowenBoys]

onai hancecai.

[The Jukebox Rebel]

I-hai ontdai ameblai ouyai, utbai ethai ordwai is-hai ancechai.

[BowenBoys]

anksthai.

[The Jukebox Rebel]

Onai otherbai

[twinsplustwo]

Used a long long time ago by inmates to confuse .

[The Jukebox Rebel]

Oh really? I never knew that, very interesting.

 

We could speak eggy at 100mph and never a word was misunderstood. Yer maw and yer Da never had a clue, which was ideal for all sorts. "Stoap speakin' that Japanese rubbish" was a grown-up moan that sticks in my mind.

 

 

edited to say: By the way, if you're trying a crash course in eggy from the above conversation, the key to remember is that every single word in the eggy language ends in the pronunciation of "hi" or "aye".

Edited May 18, 2016 by The Jukebox Rebel

[allyo]

Impressed. Thought I'd been schooled. Apparently not.

[Jaggernaut]

Atenohr irtensetnig qriuk of Esglnih is taht as lnog as the fsrit and lsat lterets are in tiehr creocrt psiotnoins, pelpoe can ulsulay urtensdnad.

[BowenBoys]

Looking forward to reading 'Stats Watch 2016-17' in the months ahead, TJR.

 

Meanwhile, a query. It was mentioned on twitter last night that Dools has now scored 90 goals in the Red & Yellow. Is this an accurate figure?

[Veejag]

I think 90 is correct - and six in a row for Doolz!

[partickthedog]

Definitely 90. There is a website I use a lot at work and every so often it asks me to update my password. I always go for Doolan followed by the number of goals he has scored. At the end of last season it was Doolan89, so it must now be 90.